scle  Shoals 


FnMir. 


m'      ./&'/i^  nation 


Library  of 
Hugh    T.    Lef/er 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

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'7i 


GOVERNMENT   ENGINEERS  DRII.I.ING   AT  SITE  OF  DAM   NUMBER  TW  f 


Library  of  f 

Hugh    T.    LeflBt  ^ 


AmerlcdsClbraltGi' 

fluscle  Shoals 


-A  Brief-  | 

Tox  the  establishment  o[our  | 

National  Nitrate  Plant  at  H 

Muscle  Shoals  on  the  \ 
Tennessee  River 


Pi'epai*ed      by 

Nashville  Section 
Engineering  Assoc iat1on_9^'^/^<^  South 

Published    by 

Muscle  Shoals   Association 

Nashville, Tenn. 
]()16 


¥oL- 


.TSW 


S    I    X    T    ->•    -    F    O    U    R    T    H  C    O    N    C:    R    E    S    S  FIRST  SESSION 

Senate  Document  No.  442 

Being  an  Extract  from  Section  One  Hundred  Twenty-four  of  the 
Measure  entitled  "A  Bill  to  Increase  the  Efficiency  of  the 
Military  Establishment  of  the  United  States."   (h.  r.  i2766.) 

NITRATE  SUPPLY.  The  President  of  the  United  States  is  hereby  authorized  and 
empowered  to  make,  or  cause  to  be  made,  such  investigation  as  in  his  judgment  is  necessary 
to  determine  the  best,  cheapest,  and  most  available  means  for  the  production  of  nitrates 
and  other  products  for  munitions  of  war  and  useful  in  the  manufacture  of  fertilizers  and 
other  useful  products  by  water  power  or  any  other  power  as  in  his  judgment  is  the  best 
and  cheapest  to  use;  and  is  also  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  designate  for  the 
exclusive  use  of  the  United  States,  if  in  his  judgment  such  means  is  best  and  cheapest, 
such  site  or  sites,  upon  any  navigable  or  non-navigable  river  or  rivers  or  upon  the  public 
lands,  as  in  his  opinion  will  be  necessary  for  carrying  out  the  purposes  of  this  Act;  and  is 
further  authorized  to  construct,  maintain,  and  operate,  at  or  on  any  site  or  sites  so  desig- 
nated, dams,  locks,  improvements  to  navigation,  power  houses,  and  other  plants  and  equip- 
ment or  other  means  than  water  power  as  in  his  judgment  is  the  best  and  cheapest,  neces- 
sary or  convenient  for  the  generation  of  electrical  or  other  power  and  for  the  production  of 
nitrates  or  other  products  needed  for  munitions  of  war  and  useful  in  the  manufacture  of 
fertilizers  and  other  useful  products. 

The  President  is  authorized  to  lease,  purchase,  or  acquire,  by  condemnation,  gift,  grant, 
or  devise,  such  lands  and  rights  of  vsay  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  construction  and  opera- 
tion of  such  plants,  and  to  take  from  any  lands  of  the  United  States,  or  to  purchase  or  ac- 
quire by  condemnation,  materials,  minerals,  and  processes,  patented  or  otherwise,  necessary 
for  the  construction  and  operation  of  such  plants  and  for  the  manufacture  of  such  products. 

The  products  of  such  plants  shall  be  used  by  the  President  for  military  and  naval  pur- 
poses to  the  extent  that  he  may  deem  necessary,  and  any  surplus  which  he  shall  determine 
is  not  required  shall  be  sold  and  disposed  of  by  him  under  such  regulations  as  he  may  pre- 
scribe. 

The  President  is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  employ  such  officers,  agents,  or 
agencies  as  may  in  his  discretion  be  necessary  to  enable  him  to  carry  out  the  purposes  herein 
specified,  and  to  authorize  and  require  such  officers,  agents,  or  agencies  to  perform  an\  and 
all  of  the  duties  imposed  upon  hini  b\-  the  pro\'isions  hereof. 

The  sum  of  $20,000,000  is  hereb\-  appropriated,  out  of  any  moneys  in  the  Treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated,  available  until  expended,  to  enable  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  carr\-  out  the  purposes  herein  provided  for. 

The  plant  or  plants  provided  for  under  this  Act  shall  be  constructed  and  operated  solely 
bv  the  Government  and  not  in  conjunction  with  any  other  industr\-  or  enterprise  carried 
on  b>  private  capital 


Muscle  Shoals 
Association 


Offi 


icers 


A.   M.   SHOOK.   Chairman 
Tracv  Citv.  Tenn. 


E.  B.  STAHLMAN. 

Vice-Chairman,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

T,  O.  VINTON, 

Vice-Chairman,  Memphis.    I  enn. 

WILL  R.  MANIER. 

Secretary.  Nashville.  Tenn. 

JOHN  HOWE  PEYTON. 

(  hairman  Engineering  Committee. 
Nashville.  Tenn. 


P.  J.  KREUSI. 

Vice-Chairman.  Chattanooga.  Tenn. 

EMMETT  O'NEAL. 

Vice-Chairman.  Birmingham.  Ala. 

C.  H.  HUSTON. 

Treasurer.  Chattanooga.  Tenn. 

J.  H.  ALLISON. 

Chairman  Publicity  Committee. 
Nashville.  Tenn. 


NASHVILLE   SECTION 

ENGINEERING  ASSOCIATION  of 
THE  SOUTH 

Committee  on  Data  and  Publication 

John   Howe  Pf.yton.  Chairman 


HuNiKR   McDonald.  Vice-Chairman 

W.     1  1.     SCHUHKM.^N 

H.  S.  Badger 
C.   H.   Crawford 
A.  J.   Dyer 


Willis  G.  Waldo.   Executive  .Secretary 
C.  S.  Brown 
W.  S.  Winn 
F.  E.  Freeland 
Leland  Hume 


%1 


TE> 


oroxv^or 


d 


OUR  NATIONAL 
REQUIREMENT 


THE  AMENDMENT  providing  for  an  adequate 
means  for  the  manufacture  of  nitric  acid,  which 
was  incorporated  in  the  National  Defense  Bill 
recently  passed  by  Congress,  is  a  feature  of  vital  im- 
portance, it  makes  possible  an  abundant  supply  of 
nitric  acid  for  our  country's  defense,  and  as  nitric  acid 
is  an  indispensable  ingredient  in  all  explosives,  the 
provision  is  essential  to  any  scheme  for  effective  mil- 
itary preparedness. 

Highly  significant,  however,  is  the  fact  that  this 
amendment  was  provided,  not  by  the  Committee  on 
Military  Affairs,  but  by  the  Committee  on  Agricul- 
ture, for  thus  was  emphasized  a  great  need  of  our 
country  a  need  both  military  and  economic  in  its 
nature,  for  this  preparedness  for  the  possible  emer- 
gency of  war  is  at  the  same  time,  a  fundamental  pro- 
vision for  the  common  welfare  in  time  of  peace. 

Whether,  then,  we  consider 
our  requirement  in  peace  or  in 
war  our  country's  nation-wide 
deficiency  can  be  expressed  in  a  single  word  nitrogen 
Public  attention  was  officially  drawn  to  this  sub- 
ject by  Hon.  Lindsley  M.  Garrison.  Secretary  of 
War.  when  in  his  annual  report  for  1915  he  referred 
to  the  use  of  hydro-electric  energy  in  the  process  of 
obtaining  nitrogen  from  the  air  as  a  matter  of  "prime 
importance  "  in  considering  the  means  "to  meet  our 
necessities  in  widely  differing  fields — our  agricultural 
and  general  industrial  development,  and  our  national 
defense."      Continuing,  he  said: 

"Such  a  use  requires  large  quantities  of 
cheap  power,  which  can  be  found  only  in  the  use 
of  water  power  =^  *  *  Military  effectiveness 
requires  ample  quantities  of  the  element  (nitro- 
gen), and  the  proper  appreciation  of  national  se- 
curity behooves  us  to  make  provision  for  an  ade- 
quate supply  in  time  of  war.  Our  only  present 
source  of  supply  is  in  the  natural  nitrate  beds  of 
Chile,  which  m  time  of  war  might  be  shut  off 
from  us.  Obviously  in  the  matter  of  munitions, 
especially  where  the  source  is  so  limited  and  local- 
ized, we  should  neglect  no  provision  so  easily 
available  as  this  to  make  the  country  self-sus- 
taining. Plants  producing  nitrogen  for  industrial 
purposes  in  time  of  peace  would  be  a  great  nation- 
al asset  in  view  of  their  availability  to  supply 
us  with  the  necessary  nitrogen  in  time  of  war." 


THE  PLAN  ADOPTED 
BY  CONGRESS 


Realizing  the  need  for  taking 
immediate  steps  to  overcome 
so  serious  a  national  defici- 
ency. Congress  amended  the  military  preparedness 
bill  so  as  to  include  an  appropriation  of  $20,000,000 
for    the   establishment   of   a   nitrate    plant,    the   two- 


THE  LOCATION  OE 
THE  PLANT 


fold  purpose  being  to  insure  to  the  government  a 
safe  and  sufficient  supply  of  nitrogen  in  the  form 
of  nitric  acid  for  the  manufacture  of  explosives, 
and  to  provide  an  abundance  of  cheap  fertilizer. 
of  which  nitrogen  is  the  necessary  base,  in  order 
to  increase  and  cheapen  the  food  production  of  the 
country.  This  plan  of  Congress  is  no  experiment. 
It  has  been  tried  by  other  nations  with  wonderful 
results.  It  is  no  secret  that  the  amazing  effectiveness 
of  Germany  in  military  and  economic  preparedness  is 
largely  due  to  their  utilization  of  atmospheric  nitrogen. 
The  plan  has  met  with  opposition,  but  it  will  be 
shown  that  this  opposition  is  limited,  self-interested 
and  ill-founded.  The  public  welfare  is  paramount, 
and  cannot  be  disregarded  at  the  behest  of  any  pri- 
vate interest. 

The  Government  having  de- 
clared its  purpose,  the  very 
important  question  to  be  de- 
cided by  the  President  and  his  counsellors,  is  the  lo- 
cation of  the  nitrate  plant. 

We  are  confident  that  we  can  demonstrate  that 
the  South  offers  an  exceptionally  suitable  site  on  the 
Tennessee  River  for  the  proposed  plant;  a  site  that 
will  afford  ample  water  power,  with  all  the  necessary 
associated  and  contributing  natural  resources  and 
industrial  advantages  to  make  it  preeminently  fitted 
for  the  purposes  contemplated  by  Congress. 

In  addition,  the  establishment  of  the  nitrate 
plant  at  Muscle  Shoals  will  remove  the  last  obstacle 
to  the  unimpeded  navigation  of  the  Tennessee  River 
and  will  provide  water  transportation  for  a  great 
section  of  country,  thus  completing  a  necessary,  but 
long  delayed,  waterway  improvement. 

And  so.   to  point  out   the  far- 
THE  PURPOSE  OE  ,.  ■       ,-  , 

THE  ASSOCIATION         '■^aching    significance    of     one 

small  item  in  a  voluminous 
measure  on  Military  Preparedness:  To  awaken  our 
farmers  and  their  many  friends  to  the  pressing  need  of 
leaving  nothing  undone  that  will  rightly  aid  in  estab- 
lishing this  great  nitrate  plant  where  it  will  have  its 
maximum  economic  usefulness:  To  draw  from 
reliable  sources*  the  information  that  unfolds 
our  subject  in  its  many  phases,  and  points  unerringly, 
we  believe,  to  one  great  power  site  as  the  place  for  the 
working  out  of  this  vast  undertaking:  To  lay  these 
facts  clearly  before  our  President  and  his  chosen  ad- 
visors, and  to  distribute  them  for  general  information: 
This  is  the  purpose  to  which  we  dedicate  these  pages. 
The  Committee. 

mdicating  a  publication  listed  oi,  pp 
tion  on  which  the  supporting  data 
<e.  g.  magaiine  articles)  the  page  nu 


SciGniit'ic^S^G)mmQrci^l 
LndorsQmoni' 


THE  FOLLOWING  ORGANIZATIONS  OFFICIALLY  ENDORSE  MUSCLE  SHOALS  AS  THE 
LOGICAL  SITE  FOR  THE  GOVERNMENT  NITRATE  PLANT 


GENERAL 

Southern  Commerciai.  CoNiiHi 
Leland  Iliiine.  Chainnnn.  Cnrr 


,  Pahi 


1 1  enry     Har  t  ung.     C  it  y 
iiercial    Club;    A.    S.    Murphy, 


ALAHAMA 

Ai  ABAMA.  State  ok^oIui    Hurifoy,  Secretaiy  of 

State. 
Albany— Citv     Council; 

Clerk. 

President, 

Athens— City  Council;  Ernest  Hine.  Mayor. 

Attall.\ — Chamber  of  Commerce;  John  P.  Stew- 
art. Chairman  of  Committee. 

Blocton— City  of  Blocton;  J.  A.  Wood.  Mayor. 

Brewton — City  Council;  D.  B.  Hayes,  City  Clerk. 

Dothan — Rotar>'  Club;  R.  W.  Lindsey.  Sei.reiarv. 

Enslev— Ensley  Club;  J.  J.  Chisholm.  Georij;e  Mil- 
ler and  D.  C.  Aver>'t,  Comrr' 


Fort  Payne — C  hamber  of  Com 

Secretary. 
Jasper — C  ham  ber 


munitions  plant  perhaps  the  most  impor- 
tant requirement  aside  from  adequate 
hydro-electric  power  and  its  comparative 
safety  from  capture,  is  the  variety  and 
abundance  of  the  minerals  that  are  indis- 
pensable   to   warfare,    within   easy   reach. 


Muscle  Shoals,  with  the  Hi 
coke  for  the  making  of  cyanamide.  with 
the  bountiful  supply  of  iron  ore  in  threat 
variety  and  the  coke  for  its  manufacture 
into  pig  iron,  and  with  manganese,  alumi- 
num, zinc,  copper  and  lead  easily  access- 
ible,   it    appears    that    the    advantages   of 


thee 


be  equalled 


ntry. 


Nashville,  Tenn 


Tce;C.A.\Volfes. 

Ciias.  R.  Wiggins.  Secrelar>' 
Mobile — Chamber  of  Commerce;  W.  M.  Clemens.  Secretary. 
Montgomery — Chamber  of  Commerce;  Bruce  Kennedy.  Ccne 
Selma — City  Council;  Louis  Benisli,  Mayor. 
Sylacauga — City  Council;  T.  P.  Johnson,  Mayor. 

CALIFORNIA 
Long    Beach — Merchants'    and    Manufact 
Secretary. 


Club;     T.     j.     I.I 


RG — Commercial  Club;  T.  C.  Hannah. 
League;    A.    J.     Dorman. 
League;     W.     B.     Ellis. 
Board  of  Trade  and  Cotton  Exchange; 
Club;     C.     E.     Sisk. 


President. 

.\.  H.Simpson.  President. 


E— Progressive    Club; 
i  usiness    League ;    W. 


Will    K.    Ward. 


Los  Gatos — Merchants"  .\ssoci 
L\MAR — Young  Ml 


;  E.  E. 


Place,  President. 


COLORADO 

ness  Association;  G.  L.  Carrico.  Secretarj". 
Valley  Credit  Association;  G.  L.  Carrico.  Manager. 

CONNECTICUT 
less  Men's  Association;  C.  H.  Starkweather.  Secretar 


Water    \'.\llev — Water    X'alley    Boosters*    Club; 

Guy  Xeson.  Secretary', 
West     Point — .Merchants'     Association;     R.     L. 

Bettv.  Secretar>'. 
Wi(.<,iNs— Progressive    Lcagiio;     E.    R.    Bryan. 
President. 

MISSOURI 
Lial  Club;  L.  N.  Shipley.  Stvrelury. 


Southport — Commercial  Association;  C.  L.  Stevens,  Secretary. 
Wilson — Chamber  of  Commerce;  C  E.  Hope.  Secretarj'. 

OHIO 

Galion — Chamber  of  Commerce;  L.  M.  Vauglni.  Secretary. 

-Chamber  of  Commerce;  C.  H.  Sexauer,  Secretarj'. 
OKLAHOMA 


■  Retail  Merchants' 


Arthur  Ersland. 


.\ — -Board  of  Tradt 
.  State  < 


;  L.  P. 


GEORGIA 

-Phillip  Cook,  Secretary^ of  State. 
Americvs — Americus  and  Su  ^ 

Glover,  President. 
Griffin — Retail   Merchants' 

Niles.  President. 


County  Chamber  of  Commerce;  Carr 
d    Business  Men's  .Association;  George 

INDIANA 

Harry  Lathrop,  Secreta 
L.  ^L  Wallace,  Preside.,. 

Havi 


Try  Lathrop,  Secretary 
ol[s — Indiana  Engineering  Society;  L.  ^L  Wallace,  President 
E— Rush    County    Chamber  of    Commerce;    Hot 


Bristol — Board  of  Trade;  J.  D,  Faucette.  President. 
Chattanooga — Chattanooga  Engineers'  Club;  O.  B.  Agner,  Vice- 
Clarksville — Chamber  of  Commerce;  P.  J.  Atkinson,  Secretary. 
Columbia — Board  of  Trade;  A.  B.  Sowell.  Secretary-. 


CKSON— Tenne.<-;.i-  Rur.il  I_.-lt.r  (  .irn. 
CKSON — Merchants'  and  Manufacturt 
President. 


KENTUCKY 

Bardstown — Nelson  County   Business  Men": 

man.  President. 
Cadiz— Trigg  County  Devd.M,; ■    \         :  ,: 


.cob  S.    He> 
,  Secretary. 


i  Me 


Me 


-Ma 


County   Commerdal  Club;  J.  W.   Kevil, 
County  Industrial  Club;     C.  J.    Kellem. 
Board  of  Trade  and  Retail  Merchants'  .Association;  C.  W.  Cniic. 


Secretary 
.    Turner" 

J.  C.  McClary. 


Paris — Commercial  Club;  O,  T.  Hin' 
ScOTTSViLLE — Commercial    Club;    J 

President. 
St\ 

resident. 

LOUISIANA 
Alexandrl\ — Chamber  of  Commerce 

mark.  President. 
Jennings— Chamber  of  Commerce;  i< 

Vice- President - 
Lake  Charles  and    Calcasieu    Paris 

of  Commerce;  Herbert  Bayliss,  Genei 
New    Orleans — Louisiana    Engineer 

Samuel  Young.  President. 

MISSISSIPPI 

Brookhwen — Board  of   Trade;   W. 
Secretarj . 


CoLL-MBi^ — Marion  County  Truck  Growers'  -As- 
sociation. N.  R.  Burkett,  President. 

COLUMBLS — Chamber  of  Commerce;  J.  G.  Weath- 
erlj,  Manager. 


,E— Tennessee  Academy  of  Science;  Samuel  M.  Bain,  Preside; 
— Commercial  Club;  J,  A.  Susong,  President. 
-Business  Men's  .Association;  John  T.  Long,  President. 
-Middle  Tennessee  Farmers'  Insl" 

ler-:on.  \'ice- President. 


As  I  understand  ii 
be  met  in  the  select 

safety   from    captun 
proximity  to  all  the 


by    the   enemy 


iterials  used  i 
ufacture  of  the  various  product 
gether  with  adequate  hydro-electric  p 
"There  is  probably  no  place  in  the  I 


the  required  power.  In 
to  the  Shoals  are  the  qu 
to  supply  Ml 


ntity 


for 


of 


close  proximity 
arries  and  mines 

ill    demands    for 


lead.  zin< 

easy  reach.  The  level  plains  coming  ur 
to  the  river  bluffs  about  the  M  uscle  Shoals 
are  most  admirable  locations  for  manu- 
facturing plants  of  various  kinds,  and 
of  any  desired  magnitude. 

EUGENE  A.  SMITH. 
State  Geologist  of  Alabama 


Commercial  Club;  A.  E. 
Board  of  Trade;  John  W.    Harton, 


I  1.1.  \H.)MA— Middle  Tennessee  Ed 
IT    Oawford,  President. 
^'iM  hf:ster — Chamber     of     Comn 
.\le\ander.  President. 

TEXAS 
lIstix — Chamber    nf    CnmnHTu-; 
President. 


H.     H. 


iCii 


rial 


K — -Chamber  of  Commerce 
— Citizen"s  Leagui 


M.  S.  Jacobs, 
.\dolpli  Seide- 


ann.  Secretarv. 

T  .Arthur — Board  of  Trade;  W.  H.  Richard- 

n,  Secretarv. 

KL-M— Commercial   Club;   J.    M.    Halle.  Sere- 


Barksdale.  Preside] 


Tb^blQ  of  Cbnioni's 


Part  One:      On  This  We  Rest  Our  Case       .        .        .11 

What  we  seek  to  show. 

Part  Two:      A  Serious  Situation  and  the  Way  Out        .      13 

The  effect  of  a  National  Nitrate  Plant  on  the  high  cost 
of  living    -and  what  it  will  do  for  the  farmer. 

Part  Three:   Our  Powerless  Prowess       .        .        .        .18 

The  Military  Situation  and  Uncle  Sam's  Nitrate  Plant. 

Part  Four:      New  Light  on  an  Old  Subject    .        .        .22 

.Navigation  on    the  Tennessee    River   and  what  the  de- 
velopment of  Muscle  Shoals  will  do  for  it. 

Part  Five:      A  Phantom  Opponent  ....      28 

Turning    the   searchlight   upon    the   possibilities  of   by- 
product Coke  Oven  production. 

Part  Six:         The  Offering  of  the  South   ....      42 

What  Muscle  Shoals  supplies  to  meet  the  needs  of  the 
Nitrate  Plant  in  time  of  Peace. 

Part  Seven:   Our  National  Treasure  House    .        .        .51 

What  Muscle  Shoals  and   Adjacent   Territory   offer    to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  Nitrate  Plant  in  time  of  War. 

Part  Eight:     And  Finally- 59 

References 61 


Appendix      Resource  Map  of  the  United  .State.s 
Inside  Back  Cover 


NORTH  ABUTMENT  DAM   NUMBER  THREE 


«,™vD.o.,t,nu^,,|:.„|"„.„io,j<^j-          1 

m 

What  We  Seek  to  Show 

FIRST    -That  a  primary  purpose  of  the  section  of  the  law  appropriating  $20,000,000  for  a 
nitrate  plant  was  to  provide  a  full  and  dependable  supply  of  cheap,  high  grade  fertilizer 
for  increasing  the  crop  production  of  the  country,  an  increase  that  is  sorely  needed  to 
reduce  the  high  and  ever  rising  cost  of  living.      (Part  Two) 

Second—  That  our  nation,  depending  upon  present  resources,  might  he  brought  to  serious 
straits  in  the  event  of  war  for  tack  of  nitric  acid  for  the  manufacture  of  explosives;  and  that 
Congress  realized  the  necessity  of  providing  for  a  definite,  controllable  supply  of  at  least 
180,000  tons  of  this  acid  annually  in  case  of  war,  in  addition  to  that  produced  to  meet  the 
normal  and  rapidly  growing  needs  of  the  country.      (Part  Three) 

Third  Thai  these  two  essential  developments  in  the  fields  of  agriculture  and  military  pre- 
paredness will  carry  with  them  another  great  public  benefit,  if  the  plants  be  worked  out  at  Muscle 
Shoals,  namely,  the  opening  of  the  Tennessee  River  to  modern  navigation- -a  long-delayed  but 
inevitable  improvement  upon  which  there  has  already  been  expended  millions  of  dollars, 
and  the  completion  of  which  has  been  contemplated  by  Federal  and  State  Governments  for 
more  than  ninety  years.      (Part  Four) 

Fourth  That  a  true  policy  of  conservation  demands  that  we  shall  utilize  the  power  of  our 
running  streams  to  extract  the  nitrogen  that  we  need  from  the  inexhaustible  atmosphere;  and 
that  by-product  ammonia  has  no  place  in  so  comprehensive  a  program,  for  the  reason  that  it  is 
far  too  limited  in  quantity  and  much  too  high  in  price  to  bring  to  the  country  the  great 
benefits  in  time  of  peace  which  were  contemplated  by  Congress.  And,  moreover,  it  cannot 
be  depended  upon  for  a  safe  and  sufficient  supply  of  nitric  acid  in  time  of  war.       (Part  Five) 

Fifth  That  Muscle  Shoals  on  the  Tennessee  River  offers  the  most  suitable  site  for  the  plant 
which  is  to  afford  a  far-reaching  benefit  to  the  nation  thru  the  production  of  a  cheap  effective 
fertilizer  in  time  of  peace,  and  an  equally  surpassing  location  for  the  plant  which,  thru  the 
production  of  nitric  acid  for  military-  use.  is  to  become  a  national  bulwark  in  time  of  war. 
(F^arts  Six  and  Seven) 

Sixth  That  in  all  our  broad  land  there  is  no  other  locality  save  the  Central  South  which 
can  offer  to  the  nation's  Chief  Executive,  who  is  to  make  the  selection,  the  combination  of  the  neces- 
sary safe  and  central  site,  the  abundance  of  power,  the  wealth  of  closely  associated  resources, 
the  proximity  to  commanding  markets,  the  favorable  climate,  and  the  benefits  to  navigation  which 
characterize  the  proposed  location  at  Muscle  Shoals.      (Part  Eight) 


J^^Tf" 


Par  I  Two 

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MNU-VL    ^^tfiALt  EXPORT   PRICEi  1\ 

THE 

The  Effect  of  a  National  Nitrate  Plant  on  the  High  Cost  of 
Living,  and  What  it  Will  Do  for  the  Farmer 


OUR  WASTEFUL 
FARMING 


WORLD  STARVATION 
AND  REMEDY 


The  past  century  has  seen  an 
industrial  development  in  the 
United  States  that  has  no 
parallel  in  all  history.  The  once  insignificant  colony 
struggling  for  existence  amid  unexplored  forests  has 
become  the  richest  of  the  nations.   (Diag.  2.  p.  I  I) 

Our  forefathers  found  themselves  in  a  land  where 
the  natural  resources  could  scarcely  be  measured. 
With  courage  and  enterprise  that  won  the  admiration 
of  the  world  they  applied  themselves  to  the  task  of 
utilizing  the  vast  natural  wealth,  taking  only  the  best 
at  hand,  and  wasting  all  else,  for  was  there  not 
enough  and  to  spare?  So  we  find  that  only  the 
richest  lands  were  cultivated,  and  as  the  soils  lost 
their  fertility  the  farmers  merely  contented  them- 
selves with  reduced  returns,  or  moved  to  new'  locations. 
The  consequences  of  this  utter  wastefulness  have 
become  painfully  evident. 

As  early  as    1898  Sir  William 
Crookes,     then     President      of 
the  British  Association   for  the 
Advancement  of  Science,   pointed  out    to    the  Associ- 

Have  we,  then,  adopt- 
ed an  adequate  artificial 
means  of  restoring  to 
our  soils  this  indispen- 
sable element?  Far  from 
It.  Four-fifths  of  every 
breath  wc  draw  and  a 
large  part  of  our  daily 
food  IS  nitrogen.  Above 
every  seven  acres  is  as 
much  of  this  element  as 
the  world  consumes  in  a 
year  in  the  form  of  salt- 
peter, the  principal  com- 
mercial form  of  nitrogen 
I  -  .....1.  Yd  in  all  the 
United  Stales,  with  its 
wealth  of  watcrpower  and 
host    of   electric  furnaces 


ation  ("I  that  the  world's  food  consumption  was  run- 
ning beyond  the  capacity  of  the  cultivated  lands  pro- 
ducing It.  He  expressed  the  conviction  that  the  only 
way  in  which  world  starvation  could  be  averted, 
the  sole  sufficient  means  of  increasing  the  yield  of 
the  world's  cultivated  acres,  would  be  found  in  the 
universal  use  of  a  bountiful  supply  of  fertilizer  con- 
taining that  most  valuable  element,  nitrogen. 

Every  progressive  farmer  knows  that  the  fertility 
of  his  soil  depends  upon  the  phosphoric  acid  and 
potash,  and  in  an  overwhelming  measure,  upon  the 
nitrogen  it  contains.  He  knows  that  should  the 
supply  of  this  nitrogen  become  too  greatly  reduced 
the  best  of  soils  will  not  repay  its  cultivation,  while 
the  utter  lack  of  nitrogen  would  soon  reduce  to  a 
barren  waste  a  soil  which  in  other  respects  might  be 
most  favored. 

HereinAmericaafter  years  of  careless  agriculture  on 
fertile  lands,  with  virgin  fields  to  be  had  in  abundance, 
we  find  that  we  have  robbed  our  soils  of  the  nitrogen 
that  only  countless  centuries  can  restore  by  natural 
processes. 


SWEDEN 

AUsrRlA-HUS'GAR^ 

FRANCE 

£.\CLAt<D 

RUSSIA 

SWniRLAI 

BELGIUM 

CANADA 

NOKWA"! 


GEl 

MANY 

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NO 
CA^ 

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IT.A 
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FR,a 

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s\\ll/LKI,\ 

M. 

I  MTKDM  All- 

1        1        1 

Ihere  is  nowhere  a  factory  for  taking  from  the  atmos- 
phere a  single  pound  of  this  measureless  supply  and 
malting  possible  its  restoration  to  our  hard-taxed  soil. 
(Diags.  5  and  6.  p.  13) 

Moreover,  through  modern  achievement  in  the 
cure  and  prevention  of  disease  and  our  rapid  progress 
of  knowledge  in  sanitation  and  domestic  science  we 
have  reached  a  point  where  but  65  years  are  required 
to  double  our  population  (_"■/;). 

With  this  rapid  increase  of  our  population,  and 
the  consequent  increasing  demand  for  food  produc- 
tion, we  are  becoming  more  and  more  dependent  upon 
outside  markets.  (Diag.  3,  p.  13)  From  1900  to 
1910  our  imports  of  food  and  animals  practically 
doubled  and  our  imports  of  manufactured  foodstuffs 
more  than  doubled.  Our  exports  of  wheat  and  flour 
fell  from  3 1  per  cent  of  the  total  production  to  only 
13  per  cent,  while  our  production  of  beef  cattle  has 
decreased  32  per  cent  in  14  years  ('"  i). 

A  serious  reckoning  is  fast  ap- 
proaching. In  ten  years.  1900 
to  1910.  our  population  in- 
creased 21  per  cent  while  our  crops  increased  but  10 
per  cent  ( '"  ,).  and  the  resulting  high  cost  of  living 
is  felt  from  coast  to  coast.  (Diag.  4.  p.  13)  Food 
which  could  be  bought  for  53  cents  in  1896  increased 
in  cost  to  one  dollar,  or  80'  ,  ,  in  1912  and  living  ex- 
penses which  at  the  beginning  of  this  period  could  be 
met  by  63  cents,  at  its  end  required  a  full  dollar,  an 
increase  of  60' <  ( '"  ,|,  (Diag.  8.  p.  14)  From  1896 
to  1912  the  average  increase  in  the  cost  of  living  per 
year  was  5  per  cent,  but  from  1912  to  1914  the  average 
annual  inciease  was  7'^  per  cent  I        ,) 


THE  RECKONING 
IN  AMERICA 


IM 

)(|     l»'i>     |m)4     l*n,     WV     l'««J     1902     1904     1906     1906      1910     1' 

$450 

$400 

J 

$330 

i 

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$300 
$250 

/ 

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/ 

/ 

$700 

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..n    ihq;    u'm   i«.»,    !-.■)«    looo    i9o2    \w    m.    vm,    nm    r 

It  should  be  noted  that  in  discussing  the  high  cost 
of  living  we  do  not  consider  the  sharp  advances  in 
prices  which  have  occurred  since  the  beginning  of  the 
European  war.  since  the  condition  created  is  far  from 
normal,  but  let  us  examine  these  advances  for  a 
moment: 

The  following  table,  compiled  by  the  U.  S.  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics,  shows  the  increase  in  prices  of 
the  past  few  months  in  Washington.  D.  C: 

Article  1890 

Round  Steak 126 

Pork  Chops .10 

Ham 138 

Lard :    .103 

Flour  (1-8  bbl.)                   .951 
Potatoes  271 

Eggs 232 

Butter .31 

Sugar 06 

I  From  th«  Waihinalon  Tin,,,.  ^ 


Apr. 

Oct. 

1915 

1916 

.11 

.501 

.11 

.25 

.19 

.244 

.13 

.20 

1.25 

1.36 

.35 

.43 

.40 

.45 

.38 

.434 

.065 

.077 

THE  WAY  OUT- 
CHEAP  FERTILIZER 


As    stated     by     Sir     William 
Crookes,  the  way   out   of   the 
difficulty  lies  in  the  increase  in 
crop  yields  per    acre    (Diag.     10.    p.     15)    cultivated 
without   additional    labor  ("i.      One    means     alone 
is   known    for   accomplishing    this  -the    use    of    suf- 
ficient   nitrogen,   supplemented  by    the     other    prin- 
cipal plant  foods,  phosphoric  acid  and  potash,  making 
a  complete  fertilizer,  in  which  the  most  expensive  (  "    i,) 
7.    OUR  INCREASING  CONSUMPTION  OF  CHILEAN  NITRATE  (73)     and  important  element  IS  nitrogen.     (Diag.  12,  p.  1  7) 


'j^y^^r  ^ ,  tr^ 


FIXATION  of  AT MOS^ 
PHERIC  NITROGEN 


1 

chemical  process  which  takes  it  from  the  air  and 
places  it  in  lime,  or  other  materials  so  that  it  can  be 
used. 

Here  is  an  mdustry  built  up  by 
fifteen  years  of  scientific  re- 
search which  offers  to  the  farm- 
er the  cheap  fertilizer  which  he  so  much  needs 
to  increase  food  supply  and  reduce  its  high 
cost.  .'\nd  we  of  the  United  States,  chief  among 
nitrogen  paupers,  struggling  with  inadequate  crop 
yields  and  rising  prices  for  food.  are.  save  one.  the 
only  great  modern  nation  which  has  failed  to  seize  this 
beneficent  offering  of  science  and  turn  it  to  account 
for  the  welfare  of  our  people.  (Diag.  6.  p.  13)  Ger- 
many. Italy.  England.  France.  Norway.  Sweden, 
Austria.  Canada  and  Japan  have  established  large  fac- 
tories for  taking  their  nitrogen  from  the  atmosphere 
and  have  devoted  a  million  continuous  horsepower 
solely  to  this  one  industry  ("'  ,).  Germany  alone, 
since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  has  developed  an 
air-nitrogen  industry  requiring  300.000  continuous 
2 1 -hour  horsepower  at  a  cost  of  more  than  a  hundred 
million  dollars.  As  a  result  of  this  notable  en- 
terprise she  is  independent  today  of  all  outside 
sources  of  nitrogen  and  will  apparently  continue  so 
throughout  all  time  i"    ,'. 

The  plan  of  Congress  is  not 
without  opposition  on  the 
part  of  certain  politicians  and 
self-centered  interests.  They  declare  that  it  is 
socialistic  and  that  it  brings  the  government  into 
commercial  business  in  competition  with  private 
concerns. 


\           \ 

/ 

\  %          \ 

■'"OBACco2;a2Zll^:==H 

\ 

\           OTHER            / 

\^ 

/ 

\        CEREALS       / 

\^                       / 

\         17.2%        / 

OKN 

/ 

vL 

21.4  : 

y 

Crops  of  the  U.  S    (<)0   75) 

To  accomplish  the  needed  results,  the  fertilizer 
must  be  cheap,  so  cheap  that  the  farmer  can  use  it 
bountifully  and  with  a  profit  of  one  hundred  to  two 
hundred  per  cent  on  its  cost,  whether  he  be  located  in 
the  great  wheat  belt  of  the  northwest,  in  the  potato 
country  of  Maine,  or  in  the  corn  and  cotton  sections 
of  the  central  and  southern  states. 

Our  principal  sources  of  nitro- 
SOURCES  OF  NITRO-  ,        ,-  .    , 

GENOUS  FERTILIZER    S^"°"'  fertilizer   materials  are 

three  in  number:  First,  there 
is  cotton  seed,  which  constitutes  the  source  of  one- 
half  of  our  supply  of  nitrogen  for  fertilizers  (  "'  ).  The 
utter  wastefulness  of  using  this  valuable  feedstuff  as 
a  fertilizer  is  condemned  in  no  uncertain  terms  by 
Mr.  Tate  Butler,  Editor  of  the  Progrcssicc  Farmer. 
who  says: 

"As  a  general  principle,  it  may  be  laid  down 
to  be  adhered  to  in  most  cases,  that  any  pro- 
duct which  is  not  suitable  food  for  men  but 
good  feed  for  livestock  should  not  be  sold  off 
the  farm.  Nor  should  any  product  suitable 
for  feeding  livestock  be  used  as  a  fertilizer  direct, 
as  a  general  farm  practice"  ''  i. 

Mr.  Butler  then  shows  conclusively  that  while 
one  ton  of  cotton-seed  meal  has  a  market  value  of 
but  $30.00  when  sold  as  a  fertilizer,  it  has  a  combined 
feeding  and  fertilizer  value  of  $62.50  per  ton  when 
used  as  feed  for  cattle. 

The  second  source  of  nitrogen  supply,  namely, 
the  ammonia  secured  as  a  so-called  "by-product  '  from 
the  manufacture  of  coke,  is  disqualified  by  its  own 
champions  as  an  adequate  source  of  cheap  fertilizer 
(Part  3). 

The  third  source  of  nitrogen  gives  assurance  of 
meeting  the  demands  of  the  situation  in  every  par- 
ticular. This  source  is  the  free  nitrogen  of  the  at- 
mosphere,  "fixed"  or  made  available  by  an  electro- 


t/.  5.  NOT  IN  FER- 
TILIZER BUSINESS 


OATS 


LMII  II   kl\L 

l«  l\l 

i.iini\M                                   i 

1 1 1 1 

SI  1 1  I )  M  \[l-.~ 


POTATOES 


The  charge  is  without  foundation.  The  govern- 
ment has  no  idea  of  entering  into  trade.  It  is  simply 
doing  what  the  government  alone  can  do — making 
possible  the  production  of  fertilizer  on  a  sufficient 
scale  and  at  a  price  low  enough  to  enable  the  farmer 
to  make  profitable  the  use  of  fertilizer,  in  which  at 
present,  with  certain  crops,  he  finds  little  or  no  profit, 
or  even  risks  a  loss  by  its  use. 

To  extract  great  supplies  of  nitrogen  from  the  at- 
mosphere a  large  amount  of  very  cheap  power  is 
needed— so  cheap  that  it  must  be  had  for  less  than 
ten  dollars  per  horsepower  per  year  ("  ,,)  or  from 
one-third  to  one-fourth  of  what  it  costs  a  large  steam 
plant  to  produce  it.  If  sufficient  fertilizer  is  to  be 
supplied,  so  that  the  plant  may  become  an  effective 
factor  in  the  situation,  then  200,000  horsepower  must 
be  available  for  90 
per  cent  of  the 
time  ('"   1,1. 

To  produce  this 
amount  of  electrical 
energy  at   such   a 
low    rate   we    must 
rely   upon    water- 
power,  for  it  is  a  well 
known  fact  that  no 
steam  or  gas  plant,     ^'io"Ai"A"i^^l- 
however  favorably     "'^"  '"'  ""^' 
located,   could   pro- 
duce   power    at    costs    even    ap- 
proaching such  a   figure,   and   to 
adopt  such  a  measure  would  mean 
a  heavy  and  entirely  unnecessary 
draft  upon  our  coal  supplies. 

The  estab-  "'°e*\*/o"^'^ 
lishment  of 
such  a  hydro-electric  plant 
is  properly  to  be  undertaken  by  the  Govern- 
ment, not  only  because  of  the  great  national 
need  that  it  will  supply,  but  also  because  of 
the  large  investment  necessary.  While  a 
first-class  steam-electric  plant  may  be  built  in  "•"  '"'" 
normal  times  in  most  locations  for.  say,  $50 
per  horsepower,  the  waterpower  plant,  with  its  huge 
dam  and  acres  of  overflowed  lands,  costs  upward  of  $  1 00 
per  horsepower  ( "  nl.  The  physical  operation  of  a  large 
waterpower  plant  is  not  expensive  (being  only  about 
$2  per  horsepower  per  year),  but  the  interest  and  sink- 
ing fund  charge  upon  the  investment  is  a  large  item,  as 
it  represents  about  80  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  hydro- 
electric power  when  developed  bv  private  interests. 
(Diag.   II.  p.   17) 

So.  other  things  being  equal,  he  who  can  borrow 
money  at  the  lowest  rate  can  sell  power  the  cheapest. 
and  the  production  of  cheap  hydro-electric  power  is 
seen  to  be  chiefly  a  problem  in  financing,  rather  than 
one  in  engineering. 

The  party  preeminent  as  a  borrower  at  low  rates 
IS  our  Uncle  Sam       A  private  individual  in  building 


WHYUS  SHOULD 
BUILD  PLANT 


up  a  new  plant  involving  the  risks  attending  a  hydro- 
electric installation  must  pay  10  per  cent  for  in- 
terest and  sinking  fund  charges  while  our  Government 
need  pay  but  4  per  cent  for  these  items  ("     tL 

In  Canada,  near  Lake  St.  John,  there  are  mag- 
nificent power  sites,  and  a  million  horsepower  can  be 
developed  there,  the  first  three  hundred  thousand  of 
which,  according  to  engineers'  estimates,  need  not 
cost  over  $40  per  horsepower  i  *"   it). 

Suppose  a  private  individual  develops  a  Canadian 
power  site.  His  interest  and  sinking  fund  expense 
per  annual  horsepower  must  be  10  per  cent  of  $40 
or  $4,  added  to  which  will  be  $2  for  operation,  making 
his  total  cost  $6  for  each  horsepower  per  year. 

Now  suppose  that  Uncle  Sam  undertakes  to  se- 
cure power  at  a  site  in  the  United  States  which  costs, 
say,  $100  per  horsepower  for  its  development.  His 
interest  and  sinking  fund  expense  will  be  but  4  per 
cent  of  $100  or  $4  per  annual  horsepower,  and  his 
operating  expense  $2  making  his  total  cost  $6  for 
each  horsepower  per  year.  That  is  to  say  that  al- 
though his  investment  is  much  greater, 
his  cost  per  annual  horsepower  will  be 
no  greater  than  that  of  the  Canadian 
plant. 

In  other  words,  our  Government 
through  its  power  to  borrow  money  at  low 
rates  can.  in  effect,  bring  into  the  United 
Stales  the  splendid  Canadian  power  sites 
with  their  superior  possibilities  for  pro- 
ducing electrical  energy  at  low  cost. 

And  this  is  just 
what  is  needed  by 
the  farmer.  For 
the  law  provides 
that  the  President 
may  sell  the  sur- 
plus products  of  the 
nitrate  plant,  chief 
among  which  would 
-Courto„Ho.pe.  6  Broj.A  V      be    electric    power; 

ESTINC    EXPERIMENT   IN    THE    FE  BTl  LIZ  ^TION  ap(J     prlvatC     Capital 

under  Government 
supervision  can  take  this  cheap  power  in  time  of 
peace  and  convert  it  into  a  cheap  effective  fertilizer 
by  combining  fixed  nitrogen  and  phosphate  rock,  pro- 
ducing a  material  that  is  60  per  cent  plant  food 
("-    ,„i. 

And  finally,  an  important  advantage  in  this  plan 
is  seen  in  the  fact  that  by  securing  our  fertilizer  and 
our  nitric  acid  in  this  manner,  we  have  added  this 
much  to  the  resources  of  our  country  and  have  not 
simply  diverted  a  material  already  in  use  for  other 
purposes,  to  the  detriment  of  other  interests,  in  order 
that  these  great  ends  may  be  served. 

What   then,  are    the   demands 
QU.ALlFIC.-ITIONSOh  j      i        .i  . 

MOST  SUIT.4BLE  SITE  "'^'^'^    "^^    'he    economic    situ- 

ation     upon     the     site     which 
shall    claim    to    be    the    proper    location    for    such    a 


5.>=!-i>-i^-      'f   V 


$2,700,000 


Steam-Electric  Plant 


Coal  IS  Inst  to  the  countn.'  as  soon  as  the 
power  is  utilizerl 


Hydro-Electric  Plant 


W'aterpower  is  lost  to  tlie  country  so  lo 
as  the  waters  are  not  utilized 


fertilizer  plant?  As  a  foremost  requisite,  it  must 
afford  ultimately  not  less  than  200,000  horsepower 
available  90  per  cent  of  the  time  ( '  ,,.  and  costing  not 
more  than  $5  to  $10  per  horsepower  per  year  (  "  ,,). 
The  necessary  raw  materials,  such  as  limestone, 
coke  and  phosphate  rock  ( "'  „  ,1  in  quantities  prac- 
tically without  limit,  must  be  available  within  easy 
reach,  and  the  site  should  be  centrally  located  with 
respect  to  the  great  fertilizer  consuming  sections  of  the 
country,  the  greater  part  of  which  are  devoted  to  cotton 
and  corn.  (Diag.  9.  p.  I  5)  so  that  the  average  transpor- 


vdro-Electric  Power  Plant  ok  Same  Capacity  (74   585.  590) 

tation  charges  on   the  product  would  be  a  minimum. 

It  should  have  the  advantage  of  a  mild  climate 
with  its  freedom  from  ice  and  there  should  also  be  no 
lack  of  that  cheap  contented  labor  to  be  found  where 
living  is  cheaper  than  in  the  more  rigorous  latitudes. 

At  first  view  it  might  seem  wholly  impossible  to 
find  a  great  power  site  capable  of  meeting  such  an 
array  of  requirements.  But  our  country  is  truly  for- 
tunate in  possessing  such  a  site,  favored  above  all 
others  in  the  requisites  for  such  an  undertaking. 

But  that,  as  Kipling  has  said,  is  another  story. 


THt  PRLStNT  i-IU-i  FERTILIZER  BY  I  .AR  THE  THE  6-10- i  FEKTIEIZER  RHOXIMENDLD  B^)    I  HI 

MOST  COMMONER-  USED   IN  GEORGIA  AND  GEORGIA  DEPT    OF  AGRICULTURE  AS  THE 

AL.AB.AM.A  FOR  THE  COTTON  CROP  IDEAL  MIXTURE  FOR  THE  COTTON  CROP 

Rl.i  OMMLNDED  PLR(  FN  FACES  OF  INi  RFASE 


A\l\Il)\l  \ 
82';o  Nitrogen 

POTASH 

PHU.^PH*  )Kli    A(  ID 

NONE 

r 

\US1BIA-HUW 

— 

.lATED   POPULATION  OF  WORLD'S  PRINCI- 


Pa  r|' Three 

~~6uv 

Povdeiiess 
1    Provoss 


The  Military  Situation  and  Uncle  Sam's  Nitrate  Plant 


AMERICAS  SERIOUS 
PLIGHT 


The  largest  publisher  in  the 
world  is  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  I'M.  In  ad- 
dition to  publishing  thousands  of  books,  reports  and 
pamphlets,  the  proceedings  in  the  various  sessions  of 
the  Senate  or  House,  and  in  the  many  hearings  before 
the  committees  of  Congress,  are  printed,  word  for 
word. 

But  there  was  one  publication,  an  account  of  a 
hearing  before  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  of 
the  Sixty-third  Congress.  Second  Session,  for  which 
an  interested  public  waited  in  vain — it  was  never 
printed  I  "    ,  ,1- 

Reasons  enough,  there  were,  for  suppressing  its 
publication,  for  on  that  day.  before  the  Investigating 
Committee,  no  less  an  authority  than  Brig. -Gen.  Wil- 
liam Crozier.  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Ordnance.  U.  S. 
Army,  presented  testimony  both  startling  and 
alarming. 

What  he  said  was  given  in  confidence,  but  today 
it  is  a  well  known  fact  that  at  the  time  of  that  hearing 
there  was  in  all  America  sufficient  powder  for  but 
two  and  one-half  hours'  fighting  as  it  is  done  today 
(•■•■■'.,,). 

The  most  serious  phase  of  the  situation  lay  in  the 
fact  that  we  have  no  adequate  source  of  raw  material 
for  making  our  own  explosives,  but  are  obliged  to 
import  the  principal  fundamental  requirement 
nitrate  of  soda,  the  source  of  the  necessary  nitrogen  - 
from  Chile  (^'  ,,  ).  (Diag.  7.  p.  14)  When  we  observe 
the  astonishing  changes  that  a  few  months'  time  has 


wrought  in  the  worlds  most  civilized  countries,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  grave  apprehension  was  aroused 
concerning  our  powder  situation. 

Preparations  to  increase  our  imports  of  nitrate 
were  quickly  undertaken.  Appropriations  were  made 
for  the  erection  of  storehouses  and  for  the  accumu- 
lation of  a  reserve  supply  of  32.500  tons  of  the  indis- 
pensable nitrate,  and  in  July.  1914.  we  were  said  to 
have  some  20.000  to  25.000  tons  on  hand,  altho  it 
was  stated  that  five  years'  time  would  be  required  to 
complete  our  supply  I "   u  i  '• 

And  such  a  pitiable  supply  it  is!  Germany  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  had.  not  twice  this  amount,  but 
twenty  limes  as  much,  and  exhausted  it  completely 
within  a  few  months  '"  ,  >■  So  grave  is  the  situa- 
tion that  a  prominent  member  of  the  Naval  Con- 
sulting Board  is  credited  with  the  statement  that — 

"The  lack  of  nitric  acid,  the  indispensable 
chemical  in  the  manufacture  of  smokeless  pow- 
der and  high  explosives,  would  cause  the  United 
States  to  be  defeated  in  less  than  a  year  after 
war  started  with  a  first-class  power,  unless  our 
navy  was  more  powerful  than  that  of  the  enemy' 

DEMANDS  OF  MOD-  Modern  warfare  calls  for 
ERN  li'ARFARE  FOR  powder  and  explosives  on  a 
EXPLOSIVES  scale  without  a  parallel.      Be- 

fore an  infantry  attack  the  ground  must  be  pre- 
pared" not  merely  by  shelling  the  enemy's  position 
with  single  shots,  or  at  best,  salvos  of  carefully  timed 
shells  from  a  small  battery  as  in  the  War  of  1861-65. 
but  by  a  torrent  of  steel  that  must  sweep  the  field  as 


^.^.Wftj,, 


,^!S&ii^^-- 


Mia& 


1sS?»»' 


a  solid  sheet,  plowing  the  enemy's  trenches  to  the 
underlying  rock  and  wrecking  safety  pits  thirty  feet 
below  the  ground.  For.  on  most  excellent  authority 
{'-"'  i,,]  we  know  that  the  40-centimeter  (16-inch) 
shells  in  use  today  penetrate  the  ground  and  explode 
with  such  terrific  force  that  a  crater  thirty  feet  deep 
and  fifty  feet  in  diameter  is  often  formed,  while  men 
arc  buried  alive  by  the  score  beneath  the  avalanche 
of  falling  earth. 

It  IS  needless  to  remark  that  the  consumption  of 
high  explosives  in  this  orgy  of  death  and  destruction 
IS  stupendous — no  less  than  a  hundred  times  as 
great  as  in  any  previous  conflict  m  history. 


As  to  their  comparative  values  Brig. -Gen.  Crozier, 
Chief  of  Ordnance.  U.  S.  Army,  testified  before  a 
committee  of  Congress  i  -'"   ,  ,i  as  follows; 

"There  arc  two  ways  of  getting  nitric  acid  inde- 
pendently of  an  outside  source  of  supply.  One  is  by 
the  use  of  ammonia,  which  is  one  of  the  by-prod- 
ucts of  coke  making,  gotten  from  coke  ovens.  That, 
I  think.  Would  give  a  limited  source  of  supply. 
1  am  not  able  to  say  the  extent  to  which  we  could 
rely  on  that.  It  has  never  been  relied  on  at  all  in 
this  country.  It  is  chemically  possible  to  pro- 
duce it  in  this  way,  and  there  is  a  good  deal  of  the 
coke-makjng  industry  in  this  country. 

"The  best  reliance  which  I  think  could  be  had 


3  111  1  i  'I'-  I  R  I 

H  II  %  Hli  I  I  ^  IS 


Based  upon  estimates  of  our  War  Department. 
Germany's  bill  for  powder  alone  soon  after  the  out- 
break of  the  war  amounted  to  $1,000,000  per  day 
("',  1,  j  and  when  we  remember  that  all  Germany 
could  be  readily  placed  within  our  single  state  of 
Texas,  the  possible  requirements  for  the  defense  of 
our  1  I  .000  miles  of  coast  line  and  border  fronts 
are  not  reassuring,  to  say  nothmg  of  our  remote 
lock-canal  and  oversea  possessions.  (Diag.  14.  p.  18) 
There  are  but  two  recognized 
sources  of  nitrogen  for  powder 
manufacture  that  are  known 
to  be  commercially  available  within  our  boun- 
daries the  by-product  ammonia  resulting  from  the 
manufacture  of  coke  from  coal,  and  the  free  nitrogen 
of  the  atmosphere. 


THE  T[\0  SOURCES 
OH  NITROGEN 


would  he  upon  the  fixation  of  atmospheric  nitrogen 
which  is  now  being  done  in  several  countries  abroad 
and  which  requires  a  very  considerable  amount  of 
cheap  electric  power,  so  cheap  in  order  to  compete 
With  the  imported  nitrate,  that  it  can  only  be  had  now 
by  the  use  of  abundant  water  power." ^ 

To  depend  upon  the  by-product  of  any  single 
industry  to  meet  the  country's  powder  require- 
ments in  time  of  war  would  be  the  utmost  folly, 
and  in  a  later  discussion  we  will  attempt  to  point  out 
the  dangerous  fallacy  of  placing  reliance  in  by-product 
coke  ovens  for  this  enormous  suppK'  of  nitrogen  for  ex- 
plosives. The  wording  of  the  National  Defense  .Act 
itself  would  indicate  that  Congress  realizes  to  the 
fullest  extent  that  the  one  great  adequate  source 
of  nitrogen  is  the  atmosphere  which  surrounds  us. 


Bv  making  use  of  the 
ECONOMY  OF  THE  "  .  i 

PLAN  OF  CONGRESS      atmosphere    under 

the  plan  now  before 
the  President  a  large  and  important  advant- 
age IS  to  be  gamed.  The  country  can  secure 
the  facilities  of  a  $42,000,000  nitric  acid 
plant  at  a  cost  of  but  $20,000,000  since  the 
$22,000,000  plant  to  be  built  for  the  manu- 
facture of  fertilizer  can  be  converted  into  a 
plant  for  the  manufacture  of  ammonia  gas 
for  use  in  making  nitric  acid  by  the  simple 
turning  of  a  valve  i"  ,!.  The  Government, 
therefore,  will  need  only  the  necessary  plant 
to  complete  the  final  step  of  the  process, 
namely,  the  oxidizing  of  the  ammonia  gas 
mto  nitric  acid.  Under  this  arrangement 
the  Government's  investment  would  be — 

Dam,  locks  and  power  house $12,000,000 

Nitric  acid  plant 8.000.000 

Total $20,000,000 

In  this  way  the  Government  can  meet  its  needs. 
owning  and  operating  its  own  plant  and  having  no 
relations  with  outside  parties  other  than  the  common 
one  of  buyer  and  seller. 

FIXING  LOCATION  of  ^"'^  ""'^"^  f^°"'^  ""!  .'°""= 
NITRIC  ACID  PLANT  ^'"^  S""^""  P'^"'-  r^quirmg  as 
it  does  120.000  continuous 
horsepower  i"»',.i  in  time  of  war  for  the  production 
from  the  atmosphere  of  this  180.000  tons  of  nitric 
acid — two-thirds  of  the  consumption  of  Germany  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war  —estimated  as  the  amount 
needed  by  our  army  and  navy?  i '■   ■.' 

*The  italics  arc  ours 


The  first  consideration  is  the  clear  pronouncement 
of  the  War  College  ('""/,,,.  ste.  s,' : 

"As  a  general  military  principle  no  supply 
depot,  arsenal  nor  manufacturing  plant  of  any 
considerable  size  supported  by  War  Department 
appropriations  for  military  purposes,  should  be 
established  or  maintained  east  of  the  Appalachian 
Mountains,  west  of  the  Cascade  or  Sierra  iWccada 
Mountains  nor  within  200  miles  of  our  Canadian 
or  Mexican  borders  and  steps  should  be  taken  gradu- 
ally to  cause  to  he  moved  depots  and  manufacturing 
plants  already  established  in  ciolat'on  of  this 
military  principle."  (See  Appendix  Map  at 
back  of  booklet.) 

Here  then  is  the  chief  of  our  fundamental  require- 
ments dictated  by  the  law  of  self-protection,  often 
worded    "Safety    First."      We   believe    that   no   power 


smssii:r'>}meim'^'i¥  i* 


site,  however  attractive  in  other  ways,  located  outside 
the  limits  of  the  safety  zone  thus  clearly  established, 
would  command  the  President's  serious  consideration: 
for  not  only  must  our  plant  lie  far  beyond  the  range 
of  the  guns  of  a  possible  enemy,  but  it  should  be  lo- 
cated m  a  region  naturally  protected  from  mvasion 
and  distantly  removed  from  possible  enemy  aero- 
stations. 

The  map  at  back  of  booklet  shows  the  safety 
line  of  the  War  College  with  reference  to  the 
location  of  the  country's  principal  streams,  its  natural 
resources,  and  its  Government  arsenals  and  munition 
plants.  Notice  how  few  of  the  large  power  streams 
lie  within  the  safety  zone.    (See  also  Map  3 1 .  pp.  39, 40) 

A  second  demand  made  by  the  requirements  of  the 
military  situation  is  that  the  location  shall  be  reason- 
ably  central.  The  tremendous  difficulties  attending 
the  protection  of  thousands  of  miles  of  transportation 
lines  needed  to  haul  the  Government's  nitric  acid,  and 
the  unreasonable  cost  of  bringing  all  of  this  dangerous 
acid  from  a  remote  corner  of  the  country  make  figures 
unnecessary  in  support  of  the  contention  that,  other 


^      .^^      l\l  >^M 


'f:. 


things  being  equal,  that  site  is  the  most  suitable  which 
IS  in  closest  touch  with  the  Government's  centers  of 
distribution  of  war  munitions,  and  which  possesses 
the  lowest  transportation  rates. 

A  third  essential  is  found  in  the  fact  that  this  plant 
will  require  approximately  120.000  horsepower  ("  „) 
which  may  be  required  continuously  day  and  night 
at  any  time,  and  for  an  indefinite  period,  to  produce 
annually  at  least   180.000  tons  of  nitric  acid. 

A  fourth  requirement  calls  for  a  plentiful  supply 
of  necessary  raw  materials  within  easy  reach.  Just 
what    these    essentials    would    be    would    depend,    of 


course,  upon  the  process  used.  It  is  likely  that  a 
bountiful  supply  of  pure,  high-grade  limestone  and  a 
good  grade  of  coking  coal,  together  with  an  abundance 
of  pure  water  would  be  primary  requisites. 

As  a  fifth  condition,  since  the  making  of  muni- 
tions is  a  companion  industry  to  the  nitrate  plant, 
it  is  desirable  that  sufficient  power  and  the  necessary 
raw  materials  for  the  manufacture  of  munitions  of  war 
shall  be  readily  available. 

And  finally,  for  the  making  of  nitric  acid  for 
explosives  no  less  than  for  the  manufacture  of  fertil- 
izer there  would  be  required  those  favorable  conditions 


s  l<)0<)   (37   430) 


respecting  labor  and  climate,  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made  in  a  former  chapter, with  the  added 
desirable  condition  that  the  local  population  shall  be 
native  American,  as  free  from  an>'  foreign  element  as 
possible. 

As  was  seen  in  the  case  of  the  situation  for  the 
fertilizer  plant,  it  would  seem  difficult  if  not  impos- 
sible to  find  a  location  not  barred  by  these  formidable 
requirements,  in  this  land  of  unfavorable  power 
sites. 

But  we  are  doubly  fortunate,  for  centering  about 
the  site  that  is  the  ideal  location  for  the  production  of 
cheap  fertilizer,  we  find  every  raw  material  necessary 
for  the  making  of  nitric  acid  in  time  of  war — and  not 
materials  for  the  acid  alone  but  for  the  whole  gamut 
of  military  requirements  from  the  steel  for  great  siege 
guns  down  to  the  aluminum  for  the  soldiers'  drinking 
cups. 

In  chapters  that  follow  (Parts  6  and  7)  we  briefly 
describe  some  of  the  principal  resources  of  that  great 
valley  of  natural  riches  christened  affectionately  by 
its  people  "The  Dimple  of  the  Universe.  " 


■ 

■ 

' 

1 

AI 

± 

Wf 

'^ 

R 

U 

1 

1 

J^ 

r  RATES  ON  WHEAT  FROM  ( 


Pai-j  Four 

f^nTQv  Light 


on  an 

Old  Subject 


Navigation  on  the  Tennessee  River  and  What  the  Development 
of  Muscle  Shoals  Will  Do  For  It 


EFFORTS  OF  THE 
PAST 


If  a  county  should  build  a 
stretch  of  level  highway  of 
the  best  material,  expending 
a  large  sum  in  its  construction,  and  fail  to  improve  a 
few  steep  hills  over  which  onK'  the  lightest  loads 
could  be  drawn,  such  procedure  would  closely  resemble 
that  of  the  State  and  National  Governments  in  their 
efforts  to  improve  the  Tennessee  River  for  navigation 
by  the  canalization  at  Muscle  Shoals. 

As  a  chain  is  no  stronger  than  its  weakest  link, 
so  a  river  is  no  more  navigable  than  its  shallowest 
stretch.  It  was  in  strange  disregard  of  this  simple 
fact  that  the  State  of  Alabama  in  1831  1836,  assisted 
by  the  United  States  Government,  built  the  first 
Muscle  Shoals  Canal.  Congress  granted  400.000 
acres  of  public  lands   to  the  State  of  Alabama,   the 


proceeds  from  the  sale  of  which  were  to  be  applied 
principally  to  the  improvement  of  Muscle  Shoals  and 
of  Colbert  Shoals. 

Although  canals  around  Elk  River  Shoals.  Little 
Muscle  Shoals.  Nance's  Reef  and  Muscle  Shoals  proper 
were  needed,  only  the  latter  waterway  was  constructed. 
It  contained  17  locks  each  120  ft.  long  by  32  ft.  wide 
and  each   having  a  "lift     of  almost  5  ft. 

But  as  the  canal  could  be  reached  only  by  craft 
which  could  pass  the  shoals  above  it.  which  were  still 
unimproved,  it  was  but  little  used  and  was  abandoned 
in  1837. 

No  appropriation  having  been  made  for  its  main- 
tenance it  fell  into  ruin.  The  wooden  gates  with 
which  the  locks  were  equipped  soon  decayed,  rains 
and  floods  played  havoc  with  the  embankments,  and 


Canal  and  River  at  Mus, 


Railroad  Used  in  Maintenance  Wo 


the  channel  filled  with  mud,  supporting  a  flourishing 
growth  of  willows  and  cottonwoods. 

Such  was  its  condition  in  1871  when,  recognizing 
the  importance  of  opening  the  Tennessee  River  to 
navigation,  the  Federal  Government  caused  surveys 
to  be  made  for  its  reconstruction,  providing  a  canal 
14' J  miles  long  with  9  locks,  having  a  combined 
"lift"  of  85  ft.     At  the  same  time  a  canal   I  '2  miles 


separate  lockages,  and  ordinarily,  would  not  be  able 
to  cover  the  24-mile  stretch  at  Muscle  Shoals  in  less 
than  28  days.  18  hours,  provided  the  water  remained 
at  a  stage  sufficiently  high  to  permit  navigation  at 
all  I'M.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  the  canal  was  not 
designed  to  accommodate  this  class  of  navigation. 

Small  wonder,  then,  is  it  that  the  traffic  through 
the  canal  averages  only  I  1 .800  tons  per  year,  while 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  tons  move  on  the  river 
above  and  below  it!  (Diag.  20,  p.  21) 

Penetrating  as  it  does  into  the 
very  heart  of  the  richest  un- 
developed region  in  America, 
the  Tennessee  River  forms  the  natural  outlet  for 
heavy  freight  in  great  variety.  In  this  region  we 
find,  in  the  words  of  the  late  Senator  Morgan: 

"  *  *  *  vast  areas  of  the  most  productive 
soils,  yielding  enormous  crops  of  food,  cereals  and 
textiles,  fruits  and  grapes;  and  forests  that  are 
almost  primeval  and  include  all  the  varieties  of 
trees  that  grow  in  the  Temperate  Zones:  vast 
beds  of  coal  and  of  iron.  zinc,  lead  and  copper  ores, 
and  rich  veins  of  gold:  great  quarries  of  marble 
that  excel   those  of   Italy  in   texture  and  in   the 


OPENING  AN  IN 
LAND  EMPIRE 


THE  SMALL  RIVER 

STEAMER    FOR    WHICH 

THE  PRESENT  MUSCI  I 

SHOALS  CANAL  LS 

ADAPTED 

*   "iHRU   CANAL    ,K    \l<    ■ 


long  with  two  locks 
was  planned  for  Elk 
River  Shoals.  8  miles 
upstream,     but 

Nances  Reef  and  Lit-  '"'s  t^p"  °f  ^"^'^  ""i" 

tie  Muscle  Shoals  were  not  provided  for  at  all.  The 
building  of  the  two  waterways,  known  as  the 
Muscle  Shoals  Canal,  was  begun  in  I  873  and  only  par- 
tially completed  in  1890  ('■,,,. I  but  the  full  work  as 
planned  has  never  been  carried  out. 

The  Muscle  Shoals  Canal  (Photos,  pp.  22.  24.  2? 
and  50)  was  planned  before  the  days  of  powerful  tug 
boats  and  their  huge  consorts  of  barges.  It  is  adapted 
to  the  typical  river  steamer  of  light  draft.  (Photo, 
p.  23)  which  can  make  the  eleven  lockages  and  pass 
the  canal  in  about  II  '  ;■  h 
water  I'M. 


THE  TUG  AND  RAFT  OF  BARGES  IN  USE  ON  THE  OHIO  RIVER  FOR  WHICH  THE  PRESENT 
MUSCLE  SHOALS  CANAL  SHOULD  BE  ADAPTED 

THIS    TYPE   OF   CHAFF    »OULD   REQUIRE   28   DAYS,     1 8  HOUR.S   FOR   P  Y5S1  Nl,    THRUCA~M      (71) 

varieties  of  beautiful  coloring,  and  all  of  the 
slates  and  rocks  that  are  useful  and  beautiful  in 
architecture,  while  the  hills  are  crowned  with 
the  plumes  of  stately  pine  forests  that  never 
fade  nor  fall"  ''•■     ,'. 


More  than  13.000  miles  of  navigable  streams 
spread  as  a  network  over  the  great  central  valleys  of 
the  United  States  and  form  the  most  extensive  and 
important  body  of  navigable  waters  in  the  world 
(■■  ,,'.  iMap22.p  26i  On  their  banks  are  thriving 
s  during  periods  of  high  cities  and  towns  numbered  by  the  thousands,  but  these 
markets,  so  cheaply  reached  from  Ohio    River  points. 


A  fleet  of  60  coal  barges  and  tug  such  as  is  in  daily 
use  on   the  Ohio.  (Photo,   p.  2i)   would    require   671 


are  effectively  shut  off  from  the  upper  Tennessee  and 
Its   rich  territory   by    the  rapids  at  Muscle  Shoals. 


The  necessity  for  adequate  navigation  structures 
at  these  shoals  is  not  to  be  measured  by  the  two 
milhon  tons  of  freight  valued  at  fifty  million  dollars, 
which  move  on  the  Tennessee  River  annually.  Far 
less  is  it  to  be  measured  by  the  12,000  tons  which 
annually    make    their    way    through    the    inadequate 

Were  our  suburban  electric  lines,  carrymg  their 
millions  of  passengers  daily,  constructed  because 
millions  of  persons  living  in  outlying  districts  de- 
manded that  these  lines  be  built? 

Does  a  modern  railway  system  extend  its  line  into 
a  vast  wilderness  because  of  the  large  volume  of  freight 
coming  out  of  that  wilderness  by  wagon? 

Of  course  not.  Public  carriers  develop  their  traffic 
after  their  lines  have  been  constructed  into  territories 
where  possibilities  of  traffic  exist.  Business  is  found 
where  the  best  service  at  least  cost  is  offered.  To  this 
well-known  economic  principle  our 
river  transportation  offers  no  excep- 
tion. Would  our  Government  develop 
a  great  commerce  on  the  Tennessee 
River  where  the  possibilities  are  so 
great?  Then  proper  facilities  must  be 
provided.  We  can  no  more  expect  to 
develop  commerce  and  call  into  useful 
service  the  dormant  wealth  of  the  up- 
per Tennessee  Valley  while  using  the 
present  forty-live-year-old  canal  facil- 
ities at  Muscle  Shoals,  than  can  a 
modern  railroad  system  expect  to  grow 
and  thrive  while  continuing  to  operate 
with  50-lb.  rails  and  the  diminutive 
cars  and  wood-burning  locomotives  of 
1870. 

And    commerce  will  not    come   to 
the  river,  and  attempt  to  make  use  of 


PANORAMA  OF  TENNESSEE  RIVER 

navigation  facilities 

that  do  not  exist,  any  more  than  people  will  flock  to  the 
suburbs  and  build  homes  before  a  means  of  suitable 
transportation  is  provided.  We  must  make  com- 
merce practicable  along  modern  lines  before  we  can 
expect  to  have  it. 

Recognizing  these  well-known 
PRIVATE  IMPROrE-  f^^^^  ^^e  people  have  met  the 
MENTS 

Government    far    more     than 

half-way.  Where  in  America  has  private  enterprise 
expended  more  for  navigation  improvements  than  has 
been  appropriated  by  the  Government?  Yet  such  is 
the  case  on  the  Tennessee  River.  Second  only  to 
Muscle  Shoals,  the  rapids  at  Hales  Bar  had  long  been 
an  impassable  obstacle  to  navigation.  Citizens  of 
Chattanooga  improved  Hales  Bar  for  power  and  nav- 
igation at  a  cost  of  over  $1  1 .000.000.  practically  with- 
out expense  to  the  Government.  (Photo,  p.  33) 


AT  SITE  OF  DAM  NUMBER  TWO 

This  important  benefit 
to  navigation  leaves  only  Muscle  Shoals  to  be  elimi- 
nated to  make  the  Tennessee  navigable  to  its  mouth: 
and  the  great  dam  at  Hales  Bar.  deprived  of  its  real 
value  to  navigation  so  long  as  Muscle  Shoals  remains 
unimproved,  stands  as  a  challenge  to  our  Government 
to  meet  its  citizens  half-way  and  provide  the  facilities 
which  will  enable  Hales  Bar  Dam  to  render  in  full 
measure  the  service  for  which  it  was  built. 

The  Ohio  and  Tennessee  are 
twin  streams  in  many  ways. 
They  rise  close  together  in  the 
same  range  of  mountains  and  their  upper  tributaries 
flow  thru  the  same  coal  and  iron  fields,  and  thru 
the  same  vast  forests.  The  streams  are  similar  in 
that  they  are  of  equal  volume  at  Paducah.  Ky.. 
where  they  unite,  while  the  volume  of  the  flow  in 
the  Tennessee  River  at  Knoxville  is  twice  as  great 
as  that  of  the  Ohio  at  Pittsburgh,  it  is  therefore 
evident,  that,  from  an  engineering  standpoint,  the  9 
ft.  channel  provided  for  the  Ohio  River  is  practicable 
for  Tennessee  River  also  !'■  i.-.n. ■..■)■  (Diag.  21 ,  p.  25) 
The  distance  from  these  important  mines,  forests 


THE  SHORTER 
WATER  ROUTE 


DRAIN.AGE  ARE.A  OF  THE  CHIC 

RI\'ER 

l)l<  \I:|al.I-,  .f\l<L\  i.)|    IH  .   ll.N^ 

.K.VSKI    Kl\ 
soonii       hooon 

/O.OOO 

HI  WIO         '10,000 

lo            lioooo      I'ooijo       Hicno      In > 

APPROPRIAllONS  FOR  THE  OHIO  RIVER 


Airixoi'Ki  \ii(:\.-5  loK  iiiF  ii-t\\fx-.e:  ri\  li 

flOlOOOOOO    S2oJoOO.OOO    ^)o)oOO,000    ?40JOOOOOO    5S0  000000    $60,1000,000     S70juOO 

AI^PROPRI.xriONS  PER  SQU,\RE  MIFF,  OHIO  RIVER 


FWi 


.  (89.A   5;  67,  15.  42) 


and  agricultural  districts  to  any  of  the  thousands  of 
river  points  west  of  Paducah.  is  shorter  by  way  of  the 
Tennessee  and  Cumberland  Rivers  than  via  the  Ohio 
River  by  several  hundred  miles  (• ''Appendix  E). 

But  these  facts  have  long  been  known,  and  we  men- 
tion them  here  simply  to  point  out  the  significance 
from  a  standpoint  of  navigation  interests,  that  at- 
taches to  the  improvement  of  Muscle  Shoals. 

The  Board  of  Engineer  officers  directed  "to 
consider  and  report  on  combined  improvement  of  the 
Tennessee  River  at  Muscle  Shoals  for  navigation  and 
water  power  development"  reported  that  the  cost  of 
the  improvement  at  Muscle  Shoals  properly  charge- 
able to  navigation  had  been  estimated  at  $8,575,000, 
and  stated  that — 

OFFICIAL  IVEIF  OF  "The  existing  commerce  of 
SITUATION  the  section  as  well  as  the  in- 

crease which  might  reasonably  be  expected  apart 
from  what  may  be  created  as  a  result  of  the  power 
development,  is  insufficient  to  justify  so  great  an 
expenditure  for  improvements  for  navigation  alone. 
But.  in  determining  the  worthiness  of  the  project, 
there  are  other  criteria  that  should  be  considered. 
It  is  known  that  the  section  of  the  United  States 
lying  within  a  moderate  distance 
of  the  Muscle  Shoals  reach  of  the 
Tennessee,  is  in  a  state  of  retard- 
ed development.  It  is  endowed 
with  mineral,  forest  and  agricul- 
tural resources  which,  when  fully 
exploited,  will  add  greatly  to  the 
general  prosperity.  It  is  the  be- 
lief and  expectation  of  those  inter- 
ested in  this  project  that  the  de- 
velopment and  utilization  of  the 
power  now  wasting  in  the  Ten- 
nessee River  will  cause  the  estab- 
lishment of  manufacturing  indus- 
tries which  will  utilize  the  raw 
materials  found  in  the  immediate 
vicinity. 


.1    l<\\  I 


"For  example,  with  electric  power  provided 
at  low  cost,  metallurgical  processes  can  be  employed 
in  the  reduction  of  ore  deposits  of  the  region  other- 
wise unavailable  for  use.  Further,  that  the  fertil- 
izers needed  for  the  profitable  production  of  cotton 
and  now  brought  from  great  distances,  can  be  made 
at  low  cost  in  the  close  neighborhood  of  the  fields  in 
which  it  is  to  be  used.'f   *     *      *     * 

"The  board  therefore  reports  that  in  its  opin- 
ion it  is  advisable  for  the  United  States  to  adopt 
the  project."  etc..  (  "  .,;,.). 

Here  then  is  the  official  view  of  the  situation;  Mus- 
cle Shoals  presents  an  obstacle  which  can  be  adequately 
overcome  only  at  an  expense  greater  than  present  and 
anticipated  navigation  will  justify — but  when  coupled 
with  an  industrial  development  that  means  cheaper 
fertilizer  and  reduced  expenses  to  the  American  people, 
the  improvement  becomes  worth  while,  and  the  cause 
of  navigation  on  the  Tennessee  is  given  a  tremendous 

tThe  .tal.cs  are  ours 


impetus  by  its  inseparable  association  with  the  great 
source  of  cheap  waterpower  that  public  safety  and 
national  economy  demand  should  be  developed  at 
Muscle  Shoals. 

Were  there  no  navigation  interests  to  be  served, 
and  no  rich  empire,  half  the  size  of  England,  to  be 
brought  into  greatly  increased  productivity .  still  Muscle 
Shoals  would  offer  a  site  incomparable  for  the  working 
out  of  this  great  defensive  and  economic  undertaking. 

But  when  to  this  sound  provision  for  national  se- 
curity and  powerful  contribution  to  general  pros- 
perity we  add  the  opening  to  modern  navigation  of 
this  great  river,  the  placing  in  unrestricted  commission 
of  the  magnificent  improvements  at  Hales  Bar  and 
the  development  of  a  richly  endowed  but  industrially 
retarded  section,  then  we  are  able  to  realize  in  a  meas- 
ure what  nation-wide  benefits  will  follow  the  estab- 
lishment of  this  great  nitrate  plant  at  Muscle  Shoals. 


/               ^^'''               \ 

REFRIGEBATI 

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Phantom 
Opponent 


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^4    GROmVI  OK  AMMONIA  CONSUMPTION  IN  THE  1 
1          ^MURIrWRrinitERATlONINRLSTRViloll            | 

Turning  the  Searchlight  Upon  the  Possibilities  of  By-Product 
Coke  Oven  Production 


THE  PURPOSES  OF 
CONGRESS 


SHALL  WE  as  a  nation  place  our  reliance 
in  by-product  coke  ovens  for  our  coun- 
try s  supply  of  nitrogen  in  peace  and  in 
war? 

Congress  declares  NO!  And  there  are  few  who 
have  studied  this  subject  which  so  vitally  concerns  the 
American  people  who  will  not  agree  with  this  deci- 
sion. 

When  that  body  voted  twenty 
million  dollars  to  establish  a 
nitrate  plant  and  placed  the 
selection  of  a  site  in  the  hands  of  the  President,  the 
principal  purposes  which  they  desired  to  accomplish 
might  be  stated  as  follows: 

First. — To  cheapen  our  food  supply  by  in- 
creasing its  production  through  the  agency  of  a 
low-priced,  effective  nitrogenous  fertilizer. 

Second.  -To  provide  an  adequate,  controll- 
able and  economical,  in  short  a  suitable  source  of 
nitric  acid  for  military  use  without  closing  our 
chemical  plants,  indispensable  in  war  as  well  as 
in  peace. 


Third.-  -To  make  certain  that  this  source  of 
nitrogen  supply  will  be  properly  located  with  es- 
pecial reference  to  economical  production  and 
distribution  in  times  of  peace  and  to  adequate  pro- 
tection in  time  of  war. 


Why.  then,  can  we  not  depend 
for  our  supply  of  nitrogen  upon 
the  ammonia  produced  as  a  so- 
d  "by-product"  in  the  coking  of  coal? 


WHY  BY-PRODUCT 
AMMONIA  FAILS 


First — Because  it  cannot  cheapen  our  food  supply. 
For.  to  reduce  the  cost  of  foodstuffs  we  must  have 
much  larger  crops  with  the  same  labor,  a  requirement 
which  demands  large  amounts  of  fertilizer.  If  we 
are  to  use  materially  larger  amounts  of  fertilizer  then 
we  must  encourage  its  extended  application  by  mak- 
ing it  much  cheaper  to  the  farmer. 

No  argument  is  needed  to  support  the  statement 
that  the  cheaper  the  fertilizer,  the  greater  the  profits 
in  Its  use.  and  therefore  the  greater  will  be  the  con- 
sumption. A  glance  at  Map  39  (page  43)  shows  that 
in  the  far  greater  portion  of  our  country  no  fertilizers 


are  being  used  at  all.  From  every  quarter  comes 
the  demand  for  a  reduction  in  the  cost  of  living, 
which  means  more  crops  on  the  same  land,  or  in 
other  vi'ords.  cheaper  fertilizer. 

And  what  is  the  reply  of  the  coke  oven  adherents 
to  the  demand  for  cheaper  fertilizer?  In  the  words 
of  one  widely  experienced,  who  has  contracted  for 
and  installed  the  largest  and  most  important  by- 
product operations  in  the  United  States,  including 
those  for  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation: 

"The  by-product  coke  oven,  in  order  to  he 
worth  while,  must  operate  365  days  in  the  year  and 
sell  all  of  its  by-products  at  a  round  market  price."* 

This  point  of  view  presents  the  coke  oven  industry 
in  a  new  light  for  it  is  thus  made  evident  that  this 
"by-product"  ammonia  is  not  a  by-product  at  all. 
but  is  one  of  the  several    principal    products  which 


the  operators  of  the  misnamed  "by-product  oven" 
must  produce  and  sell  at  a  "round  market  price" 
to  make  their  enterprise  profitable.  (Diag.  29,  p.  3 1 ) 
As  will  appear,  this  is  especially  true  with  respect  to 
that  product  in  which  we  are  interested — ammonia, 
which  is  approximately  82  per  cent  nitrogen. 

BY-PRODUCT  .AMMO.  '"  further  support  of  the  asser- 
Nl,4  .4  COSTLY  tion  that  the  so-called  by-pro- 

PRODUCT  duct    ammonia    is  not   a  low- 

priced  product  we  have  the  statement  of  a  well-known 
authority  on  by-product  coke  ovens  who  says  I  >    .1 : 

"The  cost  of  coking  by  the  recovery  method 
is  greater  than  by  the  old  method  and  the  plant 
cost  is  a  large  item,  so  that  it  is  essential  to  the 
continued  progress  of  this  business  that  the  prices 
received  for  by-products  be  maintained  at  approxi- 
mately their  present  level."     Even  with  products  at 


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normal  prices  the  large  amount  of  capital  m- 
volved  has  prevented  the  rapid  growth  of  the 
industry.  " 

It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  business  of  pro- 
ducing by-product  ammonia  cannot  prosper  unless 
the  present  prohibitive  prices  of  ammonia  fertilizer 
be  maintained. 

Then  too,  the  by-product  coke  oven  mdustry 
has  appeared  in  Washington  with  the  declaration 
that: 

"Of  the  by-products  recovered,  the  ammonia 
is  the  one  yielding  the  bulk  of  the  return,  ll  is 
therefore  of  paramount  importance  to  the  continued 
growth  of  this  industry  that  the  selling  price  of  this 
product  be  maintained  somewhere  near  its  normal 
ten-year  average  price"*  {=**;  s). 

What  chance  is  there  for  the  farmer  to  secure  a 
lower-priced,  effective  fertilizer  from  such  a  source? 

These  candid  statements  are  further  confirmed  by 
certain  studies  made  for  the  installation  of  by-product 
ovens  in  Alabama.     The  advantage  to  be  had  from 


the  saving  of  by-products  as  compared  with  their  loss 
in  the  old-style  bee-hive  ovens  was  represented  in  this 
case  by  an  estimated  income  of  Myi  cents  from  the 
by-products  from  each  net  ton  of  coal.  Of  this 
sum  of  84^2  cents,  35  cents  was  to  be  secured  from 
ammonia  alone,  which  was  to  be  sold  as  sulphate  of 
ammonia  at  $35.00  per  ton  at  the  plant.  The  average 
selling  price  of  sulphate  of  ammonia  throughout  the 
country  in  1914  was  $54,00  per  ton  (  '   ,i. 

The  use  of  a  by-product  oven  costing  $1,100  to 
$1,200  per  ton  of  coke  made  daily  (Photo,  p.  28)  to 
replace  the  bee-hive  oven  costing  correspondingly 
$180  (Photo,  p.  29).  can  be  justified  only  when  a  large 
return  is  to  be  had  from  the  resulting  by-products. 
Certainly  it  is  therefore  hopeless  to  expect  a  sub- 
stantial reduction  in  price  on  that  part  of  the  by- 
product which  furnishes  two-thirds  of  the  total  return, 
unless  the  by-product  oven  industry  is  forced  to  meet 
the  competition  of  atmospheric  nitrogen. 

As  a  source  of  both  ammonia  and  nitric  acid  the 
coke  oven  process  results  in  a  high-priced  product. 
One  explanation  of  this  is  found  in  the  amount  of  in- 
vestment required  in  connection  with  the  by-product 
oven  as  a  source  of  nitric  acid.  Figure  26,  page  30 
shows  at  a  glance  the  comparison  between  the  several 
processes  as  regards  the  investment  per  annual  ton  of 
concentrated  nitric  acid  produced. 

It  should  be  noticed  that  of  the  four  processes  for 
which  data  are  given,  three,  the  Cyanamid,  Haber  and 
Arc.  are  methods  employed  for  the  fixation  of  atmos- 
pheric nitrogen.  These  processes  have  had  their 
greatest  development  in  Germany.  Norway  and  Italy, 
the  only  industry  of   this  character  on  our  side  of  the 


THE  IMPORTANCE 
OF  A  LOW  PRICE 


Atlantic  being  a  Cyanamid  plant  located  on  the  Cana- 
dian side  of  Niagara  Falls. 

Price  is  the  crucial  point  of  the 
whole  matter.  The  testimony 
of  the  by-product  ovens'  own 
champions  shows  conclusively  that  they  must  keep  up 
their  prices.  Their  active  opposition  to  the  develop- 
ment of  Muscle  Shoals  seems  to  confirm  it.  We  want 
this  great  national  blessing  of  multiplied  crop  yields 
and  national  protection  through  the  use  of  cheap 
nitrogen.  We  want  nitrogen  at  such  a  price  that  we 
can  profitably  double  its  application  on  present  fertil- 
ized lands,  and  profitably  introduce  its  universal  use 
on  the  unfertilized  cereal  crops  which  constitute  60 
per  cent  of  the  country's  cultivated  acreage  (",,). 
thereby  regaining  our  position  as  the  world's  granary 
and  effecting  a  reduction  in  the  high  cost  of  living  to 
be  felt  by  the  very  least  among  our  people.  The  by- 
product oven  offers  no  means  of  securing  such  a 
price  and  therefore  cannot  meet  the  requirements  of 
the  situation. 

Second.—  In  time  of  war  wc  cannot  depend  upon 
the  hy-product  coke  oven  for  our  military  supply  of 
nitrogen,  for,  even  if  we  tak,e  the  expansive  promises  of 
the  by-product  oven  people  at  their  full  face  value. 
{Diag.  28.  p.  31)  involving  the  assumption  that  the  in- 
crease in  capacity  of  American  by-product  cok.e  ovens 
within  the  next  two  years  Will  equal  their  growth  in  out- 
put during  the  past  twelve  years,  even  then  this  source 
of  supply  would  prove  to  be  utterly  inadequate  to  meet 
the  war-time  needs  of  America's  private  chemical  indus- 
tries alone,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Government  demand. 
In  support  of  this  statement 
we  have  undertaken  to  make 
a  careful  analysis  (Table  11,  p. 
41)  of  our  country's  future  need  of  nitrogen  and  its 
probable  production.  The  facts  employed  are  those 
published  by  the  most  reliable  authorities  on  the 
subject.  (Ref's.  page  63)  We  assume  that  future  re- 
quirements will  amount  only  to  our  present  con- 
sumption plus  the  normal  annual  growth  prior  to  the 
war.  This  leads  us  to  estimate  America  s  nitrogen 
needs  at  too  small  rather  than  too  large  a  figure 
since  the  rate  of  increase  grows  \\'ith  every  passing 
vear. 


OUR  COUNTRY'S 
NEED  FOR  NITROGEN 


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THE  ENORMOUS 
SHORTAGE 


The  results  of  this  analysis 
have  been  tabulated  (p.  41) 
and  show  that  should  our  im- 
ports and  exports  he  cut  off  by  the  enemy  there  would 
be  an  annual  shortage  of  241 .520  tons  of  nitrogen  even 
after  there  had  been  used  the  promised  77,200  tons 
from  the  by-product  ovens  and  after  all  other  avail- 
able sources  of  nitrogen  had  been  exhausted.  (Diag. 
25.  p.  29) 

The  analysis  shows  further  that  simply  the  require- 
ments of  the  refrigeration  and  chemical  industries  in- 
cluding the  manufacture  of  explosives  by  Government 
and  private  plants  would  amount  to  25  I  .220  tons  of  ni- 
trogen. The  chemical  industry  can  use  nitrogen  only  in 
the  inorganic  forms  such  as  nitrate  of  soda,  by-product 
oven  ammonia  and  calcium  cyanamid.  (Table  I ,  p  32) 
It  is  important  to  notice  that  the  great  production  of 
cottonseed  meal,  blood,  tankage,  etc..  being  inorganic 


PITCH 

50.000  Lbs. 


CREOSOTE  OIL 
50.000  Lbs. 


BENZOL 

2( ),()()() 

Lbs. 


.  I  HUM  Bi-PnouuLi 


l.40UToN^o,--roAi.  (58   2) 


Table  I.  Consumption  of  Inorganic  Nitrogen   in  U.  S. 
for  year  ending  June  30,    1916.     ('") 
Chemical  Industries  — 

Nitrate  of  Soda 1  56,000  tons 

Coke  oven  Ammonia     21,500  tons 


177,500  tons 


Refrigeration  Industry 
Coke  oven  Ammonia 


12,360  tons 
Total  Inorganic  Nitrogen  used    189,860  tons 

ammoniates,    are    of    no    use    in    the    chemical    in- 
dustries, and  hence  could  not  be  diverted  from  use  as 
fertilizer  to  furnish  nitrogen  for 
explosives  in  time  of  war. 

The  experience  through 
which  Germany  is  passing  is 
pertinent  to  this  discussion. 
Ninety-five  per  cent  of  all  coke 
made  in  Germany  is  produced 
with  the  recovery  of  the  by- 
products. Diagram  32  (p.  41) 
shows  that  Germany's  produc- 


sults  of  the  desperate  efforts  of  the  most  efficient 
nation  in  the  world. 

Our  present  supplies  of  nitrate  of  soda  and  cyana- 
mid  are  wholly  and  entirely  imported,  and  might  be 
shut  off  completely  m  time  of  war.  Therefore  we 
face  the  significant  fact  that  under  war-time  condi- 
tions were  we  deprived  of  our  imports  and  exports 
we  could  secure  nitrogen  for  explosives  and  other 
chemical  uses  from  but  the  one  source — namely,  the 
by-product  oven,  unless  the  air  nitrogen  industry  had 
been    previously    established    in    the    United    States. 

Note  the  present  rapid  increase  in  the  use  of   by- 


tion  of  coke  has  fallen  off  18  per  cent  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war.  In  the  most  perilous  period  of 
her  national  existence,  seeking  a  supply  of  nitrogen 
to  meet  a  demand  hitherto  unheard  of  in  the  world's 
history.  Germany  has  turned  not  to  the  coke  ovens, 
but  away  from  them  and  has  staked  her  all  upon 
the  atmosphere  fixation  processes  in  which  she  has 
invested  more  than  one  hundred  million  dollars  in 
the  past  two  years. 

These  are  the  facts  which  should  count  with  us 
no  theory  here — no  assumption — but  the  actual   re- 


product  ammonia  in  such 
vitally  important  indus- 
tries as  refrigeration  and 
chemical  plants  (Diags. 
23  and  24,  p.  28).  Could 
we  permit  our  food  sup- 
plies to  perish  for  lack  of 
ammonia  for  ice-making? 
Could  we  permit  our 
chemical  industries  to  be- 
come paralyzed  at  a  time 
when  we  need  them  the 
most? 

What  sort  of  patriotism 
is  it  that  would  commit  our 
country  to  the  suicidal  policy  of  relying  upon  a  single 
source  of  nitrogen  so  grossly  inadequate  as  the  by- 
product coke  oven? 

Third. — In  placing  the  choice  of  a  site  in  the  hands 
of  the  President.  Congress  intended  to  make  sure  that 
our  source  of  military  nitrate  supply  would  he  located 
where  it  would  be  safe  in  time  of  war. 

The   war    college    defined   the 
safety     area    of     the     United 
States  when    they   established 
the  line  shown  in  red  on  the  map  onpage  30.   Thearea  m 


SAFETY  ZONE  OF 
THE  WAR  COLLEGE 


■^     n 


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•=•■■.                                                                         I  [                                                                                             2 

I 

i 

NOTE:  Since  the  above  reproduction  of  the  drawings  (shown  in  H.  R.  Doc.  20,  63rd  Cong.,  2nd  Sess.)  was  made,  a  new  set  of  drawings  has  been  pubHshed  after  further  investigation  by  U.  S.  Government 
Engineers  at  a  cost  of  $150,000.  (H.  R.  Doc.  1262,  64th  Cong.,  1st  Sess.).  In  these  drawmgs  the  normal  elevation  of  the  upper  pool  formed  by  Dam  No.  I  is  fixed  at  410.5.  The  normal  level  of 
the  pool  above  Dams  Nos.  2  and  3  remains  unchanged.  Locks  and  other  structures  have  been  designed  with  a  view  to  providing  for  6-foot  navigation  and  a  possible  subsequent  increase  m 
project  depth  to  9  feet.     (51 ,' Plates  33.  35,  46:  5 1 ,21)  ; 


30.    GENERAL  PLAN  AND  PROFILE  OF  MUSCLE  SHOALS  IMPROVEMENTS.     (51/Piates  G-2,  G-3,  G-4) 


31.    POTENTIAL  WATER  POWER  MAP  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  (64/Map-,  49/164-170;  5l/PI«tt  III 


^ITED  STATES  (64/Map;  49/164-170;  51/Plate  lllj 


"ZZm^'^^^ii 


FRODUICTION 


IN  TIMF.  OF  PKlACF 


FIRST  YEAR  OF  \XAR 


SECOND  ^•E.4R  OF  wAr 


white  is  that  zone  within  which  all  plants  for  military 
purposes  supported  by  public  funds  must  hereafter  be 
built.  The  black  discs  show  that  fully  85  per  cent  of 
the  by-product  coke  oven  plants  of  this  country  are  to 
he  found  within  the  danger  area. 

We  have  seen  that  our  present  available  nat- 
ural resources  are  located  outside  of  this  area  to  a  very 
large  extent.  (Appendix  Map)  We  have  observed 
with  concern  that  our  munitions  plants. our  steel  mills, 
our  blast  furnaces  and  many  of  our  most  important 
deposits  of  raw  materials  are  in  the  danger  zone, 
and  to  a  large  extent  these  vital  industries  not  only 
are  located  in  exposed  territory,  but  are  so  con- 
centrated within  It  as  to  make  the  isolation  of  a  part 
of  our  Atlantic  States  a  matter  of  most  serious  con- 
cern to  the  country.  Shall  we  further  increase  the 
national  danger  by  producing  the  first  requisite  of  war. 
nitric  acid,  within  an  area  subject  to  enemy  attack? 

When  we  consider  safety  of  construction,  the 
photograph  of  a  typical  by-product  oven  plant  (p.  28) 
shows  how  vulnerable  to  attack  is  the  group  of  brick 
and  sheet  iron  structures  which  constitute  a  by-prod- 
uct oven.  How  small  a  bomb  could  utterly  demolish 
such  structures! 

Andrew  Carnegie  says.  "Put  all  your  eggs  into  one 
basket  and  watch  that  basket.  One  large  air-nitro- 
gen plant  built  of  mass've  reinforced  concrete  in  a 
protected  district  is  certainly  more  easily  defended 
than  a  number  of  small  plants  of  light  construction 
scattered  over  the  country  in  exposed  locations  from 
Chicago  to  Birmingham. 

Calcium  cyanamid  can  be  economically  shipped  long 
distances,  so  that  if  this  process  were  adopted  and  the 
final  oxydizing  step  omitted  at  the  central  plant,  this 
operation  could  be  performed  in  as  many  small  ox\'diz- 
ing  plants  as  considered  expedient  for  military  needs,  so 
that  the  advantages  of  local  production  of  nitric  acid  are 
readily  obtainable  under  the  atmospheric  fixation  plan. 

The  by-product  coke  ovens  have  their  place  in 
any  scheme  of  preparedness,  and  mark  an  important 
improvement  over  the  old  bee-hive  oven,  but  they 
do  not  constitute  that  big.  adequate  source  of  supply 
which  should  be  at  the  ready  command  of  Uncle 
Sam's  defensive  forces. 


Table  II.  Requirements  and  Supply  of  Nitrogen  in 
the  United  States  in  1914  and  Estimate  of  Same 
in  Event  of  War  Early  in  1918.  (See  special  list, 
page  63.  for  references.) 


Nitrogen  Requirements  of  United  States 

—  Net  Tons  Nitrogen   — 
1914  1918  (est.) 

Feed— Cottonseed  Meal 63.500  (10)  67.000  (//) 

Other  Organic  Ammonia    8,000  (/.')  14.000  (/3) 

Fertilizers    - 

Cottonseed  Meal 54,400  (/O)  56,500  (//) 

Other  Organic  Ammonia 61,350  (/•/)  75,750  (/•#) 

Inorganic-            37.750  (/6) 

Nitrate  of  Soda    40.600  (/5) 

Sulphate  o(  Ammonia 30.900  (/5) 

Cyanam.d  Ammonia 4.500  (  3  ) 

Refrigeration — 

Ammonia 10,450  (/7)  14.820  (/8) 

Chemical  Industries — 

As  Ammonia                                        14,700  (/9)  25.400(20) 

As  Nitric  Acid                         .           60,600(2/)  156.000(22) 

Govt.  Military  Explosives 55.000  (23) 

Domestic  Consumption 349.000  502,220 

Exports.  Cottonseed  Meal 45,600  {24) 

Total  Requirements 394,600  502,220 

Nitrogen  Supply  of  United  States 

—  Net  Tons  Nitrogen  — 
Domestu  Production :                                            1914  1918  {est.) 

Cottonseed  Meal           163.500  (/)  123.500(2) 

Other  Organic  Ammoniates 53.700  (3)  60.000  (-#) 

Sulphate  of  Ammonia        37,700  (5)  77,200  (6) 

Total  Domestic  Production      ..     .254.900  260.700 

Nitrate  of  Soda    101.200  (7) 

Sulphate  of  Ammonia 18,350  (S) 

Organic  Ammoniates 1  5,650  (9) 

Cyanamid     4,500  (3) 

Shortage 241.520 

Total  Supply                                     394.600  502.220 


U.  S.  (I-A  411-414.  57) 


PaH'  Six 

TheOffei-ir^ 
-^outh 


What  Muscle  Shoals  Supplies  to  Meet  the  Needs  of  the 
Nitrate  Plant  m  Time  of  Peace 


A    NEGLECTED 
SECTION 


"Go  West,  young  man,  "  said 
Horace  Greely — and  the  young 
man  went.  Not  singly  nor  by 
the  hundreds  did  he  go,  but  by  the  tens  of  thousands. 
Occasionally  those  who  took  the  long  westward  journey 
were  brilliantly  successful,  far  oftener  they  were  bit- 
terly disappointed,  but  there  in  the  West  they  were, 
and  there  they  generally  remained,  and  thus  that 
section  of  the  country  developed. 

Stricken  by  war  and  poverty,  the  South  had  few 
champions  to  present  its  claims  in  competition  with 
the   tempting  offers  of  the   golden  West,   and  so  the 


the  great  natural  wealth  of  this  section  neglected  and 
almost  unknown. 

Thus  it  happens  that  the  richest  undeveloped 
region  in  Uncle  Sam's  domain  is  located,  not  in  the 
far  West,  nor  in  uttermost  Alaska,  but  within  that 
great  populous  section  which  stretches  from  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  Rivers  on  the  north  and  west  to 
the  coasts  of  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf. 

Herein,  as  we  shall  see,  is  a  greater  variety  of 
Nature's  treasures  than  is  to  be  found  anywhere  else 
in  our  land.  Here  the  electro-chemical  industries  can 
find,  in  close  association,  an  abundant  supply  of  water 


broad    wave    of    development    that    swept    westward      power  together  with  all  of   those  contributing  factors 
during   the  closing   decades  of   the   last  century   left      which  make  for  industrial  success  and  supremacy. 

Foremost  among  the  water- 
powers  of  this  great  territory, 
surrounded  by  the  potential 
wealth  of  mine,  field  and  forest  is 
the  Niagara  of  the  South  Muscle 
Shoals.  Simply  to  state  the  con- 
ditions and  to  review  the  facts  is 
to  demonstrate  that  here  is  the 
one  site  for  the  Government  ni- 
trate plant,  capable  of  meeting  the 
requirements  in  every  particular. 
WHATTHE  Summing  up 
SITE  SHOULD  ^^'^  requirements 
SUPPLY  of  the   site  that  is 

to  produce  huge 
supplies  of  cheap  and  high  grade 
fertilizer  in  times  of  peace,  we 
have: 

1.   Power:     200,000   horse- 
power which  must  be  avail- 
able  for  **0  per  cent  of  the 
time    throughout    each 

36.  Some  Products  of  the  South  (60  48.  ^0) 


:z;-f^is^>  :s;^::<:^^s;s^?^?-liSEg5g^g---^^'^^^  ^i^^^ms^^-m- 


year,  to  cost  not  more  than  S5  to  SIO  per  horse- 
power year,  if  we  are  to  produce  at  home  in 
successful  competition  witli  Norway,  where 
water  power  is  avaihible  at  Si  to  S5  per  horse- 
power year. 

2.  Raw  Materials :    Practically  unlimited 
supplies  of  the  following  necessary  materials 


close  at   hand,   viz.:     ill   Pure   limestone;     i2i 
Coking  coal;   i3i  Phosphate  rock. 

i.  Central  Location:  A  site  that  is  central 
with  respect  to  the  great  fertilizer  consuming 
districts  of  the  country  which  are  its  natural 
markets,  and  favorably  situated  with  respect 
to  transportation. 


IIO'l  (17    1'>R) 


4.  Contented  Labor:  An  abundance  of  low- 
priced,  suitable,  contented  labor. 

5.  Mild  Climate:  A  climate  that  will  tend 
to  make  the  cost  of  living  low,  and  that  will 
prevent  delays  and  damage  due  to  anchor  ice  in 
the  penstocks  of  the  power  plant. 

To  what  extent,  then,  is  the  site  at  Muscle  Shoals 
able  to  meet  the  above  requirements,  located  as  it  is 
m  the  very  heart  of  that  rich,  undeveloped  region  — 
the  South? 


viiater    which    occasionally  occur,  for  in  the   case  of 
greatly    increased    demand    beyond    all    expectations, 
nearby  streams,  or  the  upper  tributaries  of  the  Ten- 
nessee   River    could    furnish    reservoirs    from    which 
could  be  drawn  ample  power  to  tide  over  the  driest 
periods  which  have  occurred  in  the  forty-four  years 
during  which  the  records  have  been  kept.    Diagram  31 
(p.    53)   shows   the   relation   between   these   reinforce- 
ments and  the  main  run-of-river  power  at  the  Shoals. 
Notice  that  the  diagram  shows  24-hour  power  only. 
If    commercial    power    be    considered    then    680.000 
horsepower    can    be    developed    i-      '.   an 
amount  greater    by    105.000    horse  power 
than  that  of  the  combined  developments 
on  the    Canadian   and  American  sides  at 
Niagara    Falls  i  "   i,,,). 

The  engineers  of  the  War  Department 
have  reported  that  to  produce  the  energy 
which  is  now  running  to  waste  over 
Muscle     Shoals    would     require     over     a 


THE  POWER  SITE      ■        , 
PRE-EMINENT  "°"  ^^  ^ 

greatelec- 

tro-chemical  plant  manufac- 
turing fertilizer  the  site  at  Mus- 
cle Shoals  presents  notable 
qualifications  and  advantages. 

In  the  vast  territory  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  wherein  is 
consumed  practically  all  of 
the  commercial  fertilizer  used 
in  the  United  States.  (Map  39, 
p  43)  the  greatest  potential 
waterpower  center,  barring 
only  Niagara  Falls,  is  Muscle 
Shoals   on   the   Tennessee    River.    (Diag.    34.    p.    42) 

Engineering  estimates  based  on  extensive  surveys 
and  an  exhaustive  analysis  by  United  States  Gov- 
ernment engineers  of  the  power  demand  of  the 
region,  give  over  600,000  horsepower  as  the  prac- 
ticable capacity  of  the  generating  plant  that  may  be 


million  tons  of  coal  converted  into  steam  or  gas 
power  annually,  and  if  the  enormous  reservoir  sites 
on  the  Tallapoosa  and  Little  Rivers,  or  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Tennessee,  be  used  to  reinforce  the 
run-of-river  power  at  the  Shoals  during  the  occasional 
brief  periods  of  low  water,  which  occur  during  the 
placed  at  Muscle  Shoals,  of  which  280,000  horsepower  summer  months,  then  no  less  than  1 ,663,000  tons  of 
would  be  capable  of  continuous  operation  every  day      coal    per    year    would     be     needed    to    produce    the 


of  the  year,    (Diag.  31,  p.  55)  amount  of 

At  Muscle  Shoals  the  consumers  of  electric  power      him   who 
need   never   be  limited   by   the  short  periods  of   low      34    p    59) 


ergy  which  these  running  waters  offer  to 
ill    make   use    of    them  (  '    .„).     (Diagram 


jms^^m;^m^m.^ms^^i^?'nm^'smmL 


R.W'  M.-ITERIALS 
FOR  FERTILIZER 


Reference  to  Map  40  (p.  43) 
shows  clearly  that  the  neces- 
sary combination  of  adequate 
waterpower  and  raw  materials  for  fertilizer  manufac- 
ture, exists  in  but  one  location  -Muscle  Shoals. 
Only  injthis  section  of  the  country  can  be  found  a 
commercial  production  of  the  three  necessary  ma- 
terials- limestone,  coking  coal  and  phosphate  rock — 
all  withm  a  radius  of  one  hundred  miles. 

I.  Limestone;  The  bluffs  along  the  river 
([-"hotos.  pp.  47-48)  are  composed  of  a  limestone 
remarkable  for  its  purity.  Samples  taken  from  a 
nearby  quarry  showed  the  following  analysis: 


Carbonate  of  lime 
Carbonate  of  magnesia 
Oxide  of  iron  and  alumina 

Silica  

Moisture,  etc 


98.17', 
0.97'; 
0.30'; 
0.49ff 
0.07^c 


j  \/     -- 

^ 

7^^^-.     rS^ 

■-.f  "  V         ,"  ".  '"'>.« 

o.r:c^; 

\  ^  \ 

^_V^^-  '■'' 

*)    !>~^\ 

IV    E    S. 

--[^^J^' 

H, 

V 

"-^■^     \\ 

1909  (-H   81.  37   2) 


100.00'; 

Three  other  samples  from  different  locations 
showed  an  analysis  of  carbonate  of  lime  differing  from 
that  given  above  by   I    to  2  per  cent,  or  less. 

The  facility  with  which  this  rock  may  be  quarried 
and  conveyed  in  barges  to  the  fertilizer  plant  is  shown 
by  the  photographs  on  pages  44  and  48. 

Dr.  E.  A.  Smith.  State  Geologist  of  .'\labama. 
describing  the  limestones  of  his  State  i        ,1  says: 

"In  the  northern  part  of  the  state  this  rock 
is  350  to  1.300  feet  in  thickness  and  covers  a 
great  area.  *  *  *  *  f  yj^^  purer  portions 
of  this  limestone  carry  from  95  to  99  per  cent 
carbonate  of  lime,  but  with  the  better  quality  of 
the  rock,  shales  are  often  interstratified.    ^   *   *    * 


IW)  (J7   156) 


In  our  consideration  of  limestones  as  raw  material 
for  the  manufacture  of  fertilizer  we  must  take  notice 
of  an  important  division  between  them.  The  two 
classes  are  shown  in  Map  40.  (p.  43)  The  areas 
shown  in  black  dots  are  underlain  by  dolomite,  which, 
while  of  great  value  as  a  flux  for  the  blast  furnace, 
and  for  other  purposes,  is  not  an  economical  material 


to  use  in  the  manufacture  of  electro-chemical  fertil- 
izer. The  areas  shown  in  red  dots,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  underlain  mainly  by  high-calcium  limestone, 
containing  little  or  no  magnesia.  This  is  the  kind 
which  is  suitable  for  use  in  the  electro-chemical  manu- 
facture of  fertilizer  ('"  ,„;),  and  it  is  this  kind,  of  great 
purity,  which  is  to  be  had  in  unlimited  quantity  and 


ZSHWISi'"^?":''"' '"':  '^::'Mi&SKLt:^S: 


;^nr^^«- 


-  Coal.    Iron   »nd   R     R     Co  .    En5I 


favorably  disposed  for  economic  quarrying,  at  Muscle 
Shoals. 

2.  Coke:  Referring  again  to  Map  40  (p.  43).  we 
notice  that  only  small  portions  of  the  coal  areas  of 
the  country  are  indicated  (by  the  small  red  C's)  as 
containing  suitable  material  for  cokmg.  The  trans- 
portation of  coke  or  coking  coal  from  the  limited 
areas  in  which  they  originate  to  distant  places  of  use. 
adds  materially  to  the  cost  of  using  coke.  For  ex- 
ample, in  the  State  of  Illinois  the  average  value  of 
the  61,618.744  tons  of  coal  produced  in  1914  was 
$1.14  per  ton  I'*  ,.,,)  but  the  coke  ovens  of  the 
State  were  obliged  to  use  coal  brought  from  Penn- 
sylvania and  West  Virginia,  four  parts  of  which 
were  mixed  with  one  part  of  Illinois  coal  to  secure  a 
material  for  satisfactory  coking,  and  the  1,932,132 
short  tons  of  coal  used  in  this  way  were  valued  at 
$2.82  per  ton  {'"•  ,■..).  an  increase  of  147  per  cent 
over  the  value  of  the  local  coals. 

But  the  maker  of  coke  in  the  Tennessee  Valley 
needs  no  imported  coal.  Ninety  miles  from  the  site 
at  Muscle  Shoals  lies  the  great  coke  producing  dis- 
trict of  Birmingham.  Ala.,  second  only  to  the  Con- 
nellsville  district  of  Pennsylvania,  (see  .Appendix 
Map) 

In  the  Biimingham  district,  although  the  de- 
velopment   of    the   coal    resources   has   hardly    begun. 


sufficient  facilities  for  coke  making  (some  of  which 
are  shown  in  the  photographs  on  pages  28  and  29) 
are  at  hand  for  producing  coke  in  large  volume,  this 
district  having  produced,  in  round  numbers,  3,084,000 
tons  of  coke  in  1914  ( '"  „  )  so  that  the  location  of 
Muscle  Shoals  with  respect  to  coke  supply  is  all  that 
could  be  desired, 

3.  Phosphate  Rock:  The  third  fundamental  re- 
quirement in  the  manufacture  of  cheap  high-grade 
fertilizer  by  modern  electro-chemical  means  is  a 
liberal  supply  of  phosphate  rock  so  located  as  to 
permit  of  economical  mining  and  requiring  a  mini- 
mum outlay  for  transportation. 

Here,  again,  the  location  at  Muscle  Shoals  proves 
Itself  to  be  the  site  par-excellence. 

Phosphate  rock  is  produced  (m  commercially  im- 
portant quantities)  in  but  five  districts  of  the  United 
States,  (Appendix  Map)  Of  these,  one  is  in  the  far 
west  in  the  heart  of  the  rugged  districts  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  in  Wyoming,  far  removed  from  centers  of 
fertilizer  consumption  (District  No.  3);  a  second  lies 
on  the  Atlantic  Coast  in  South  Carolina  (District 
No.  4).  but  the  heavy  overburden  which  must  be  re- 
moved in  that  district  before  the  rock  can  be  mined 
increases  the  cost  to  such  a  point  that  in  general  it 
does  not  pay  to  ship  this  phosphate  ("   ,.,). 


yr'/r  vrr^y^/l'^'^'r^ 


There  remain,  then,  in  all  the  United  States  only 
the  pebble  and  hard  rock  deposits  of  Florida  and  the 
deposits  of  Tennessee,  which  in  large  part  are  of  the 
highest  grade. 

The  Tennessee  deposits  have  their  greatest  de- 
velopment within  60  miles  from  Muscle  Shoals,  at 
Mt.  Pleasant.  Tenn..  the  second  largest  producing 
district  in  the  United  States  (Photos,  pp.  44  and  58). 
Here  is  to  be  found  a  reserve  of  phosphate  rock  con- 
taining normally  70  to  72  per  cent  and  as  high  as  80 
per  cent  pure  tricalcium  phosphate  (Ca  iPOl  )  in 
quantity  variously  estimated  from  88  million  I  ,1 
to  160  million  (  .1  long  tons,  which  is  economically 
mined  and  washed. 

The  value  to  Muscle  Shoals  of  these  enormous  de- 
posits of  phosphate  rock  right  at  hand  needs  only  to 
be  pointed  out  to  be  fully  appreciated,  a  fact  also  true 
of  the  great  supply  of  timber  for  construction  and  other 
purposes,  which  is  readily  available  (Map  43.  p.  46). 

In   considering    so   bulky    a 
ECONOMY  OF  j-  r       ■■■  , 

CENTRAL  LOCATION    commodity    as    fertilizer    that 
site    is    best    adapted    for    its 
manufacture,  which  offers  a  source  of  supply  nearest 
to  the  centers  of  fertilizer  consumption. 

The  South  is.  above  all  things,  an  agricultural  dis- 
trict. With  an  area  of  about  one-third  that  of  conti- 
nental United  States  (exclusive  of  Alaska)  the  South 


produces  62  per  cent  of  all  farm  crops  of  the  United 
States,  exclusive  of  livestock,  and  100  per  cent  of  all 
our  cotton.  (Diag.  36.  p.  42)  In  this  warm,  moist 
climate  the  vegetation  grows  luxuriantly  and  con- 
stant cropping  soon  exhausts  the  soil.  The  greatest 
fertilizer  consuming  district  in  America  therefore,  is  an 
area  in  the  South  Atlantic  States  where  it  has  become 
necessary  to  use  fertilizer  in  order  to  produce  a  paying 
cotton  crop.  Map  39  (p.  43)  reveals  the  significant 
fact  that  fully  50  per  cent  of  America's  fertilizers  are 
consumed  within  500  miles  of  Muscle  Shoals,  and  a 
radius  of  800  miles  includes  fully  80  per  cent  of  our 
country  s  fertilizer  consumption.  The  transportation 
facilities  by  rail  are  indicated,  in  part,  by  the  network 
of  principal  railroads  shown  in  black  on  the  Appendix 
Map.  while  the  system  of  some  13.000  miles  of  nav- 
igable waterways  connecting  with  this  site  are  shown 
in  blue.      (See  also  Map  22.  p.  26.) 

It  might  be  urged  that  Muscle  Shoals  lies  too  far 
to  the  southeast  to  be  called  a  truly  central  location, 
but  if  we  consult  the  Government's  Statistical  Atlas 
for  1914  we  find  (Map  38.  p.  43)  that  Muscle  Shoals 
lies  within  a  circle  of  300  miles  radius  which  can  truly  be 
said  to  represent  the  heart  of  rural  America.  Inspection 
of  the  map  shows  that  within  this  circle  lie  the  centers 
of  eight  of  those  vital  factors  of  national  life  by  which, 
rather  than  by  geography,  our  national  center  is  fixed. 


'^3^rr:rrr'3^r:r- 


IMPORTANCE  OF 
SUITABLE  LABOR 


Abundant  cheap  and  rea- 
sonably dependable  labor  is  an 
important  consideration  in 
sucb  specialized  work  as  the  electro-chemical  manu- 
facture of  fertilizer  in  which  the  various  operations 
must  be  carried  on  continuously,  day  and  night. 


sistent  with  fair  living  wages,  for,  as  we  have  seen,  if 
more  general  and  profitable  use  is  to  be  made  of  fer- 
tilizer. It  must  be  produced  much  more  cheaply  than 
is  possible  at  present.  Moreover,  as  the  plant  is  to 
provide  for  the  needs  of  our  army  and  navy  in  all 
emergencies,  the  labor  should   be  of   a   lojal   and   de- 


The  labor  cost  should  be  as  1 


possible,  con-       pendable  character. 


:  MiuaiMftt  T 


Makes.  Cheaper  LiviNci  a.-^d  LoutK-pRutL.  Labor  Po^.^ 


In  both  of  these  respects  the  South  has  a  pecuUar 
advantage.  In  this  section  where  the  cHmate  is 
mild  (Map  45.  p.  49)  and  living  is  cheaper  than  in  the 
more  rigorous  latitudes,  the  workingman,  white  or 
colored,  can  live  contentedly  on  less  than  in  other  sec- 
tions of  the  country.   (Map  44.  p.  49  and  Map  42.  p.  46) 

Freedom  from  the  foreign  element  in  all  classes  of 
population,  in  the  central  South  (Map  52,  p.  56) 
brings  to  our  industries  a  welcome  freedom  from  a 
certain  undesirable  class  of  foreign  workmen,  who, 
having  no  true  conception  of  the  spirit  of  our  demo- 
cratic institutions,  and  lacking  the  inspiration  of 
American  patriotism,  are  a  constant  source  of  unrest 
and  discontent. 


Map  45  (p.  49)  shows  the  average  January  tem- 
peratures taken  at  8  A.  M.  in  various  parts  of  the 
country.  A  moment's  examination  shows  that  to 
find  a  more  genial  climate  we  must  go  to  one  of  three 
localities:  The  Pacific  Coast,  where  the  haul  required 
is  prohibitive;  Southwest  or  Southeast  Texas,  where 
there  is  neither  adequate  power,  phosphate  rock,  nor 
coke:  or  the  coasts  of  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf,  where 
two  or  more  of  the  necessary  raw  materials  would 
have  to  be  shipped. 

Here    is    abundance  of  power 
QUALIFICATIONS  OF  ui       £  J        1  »       ^u 

THE  PREMIER  SITE  "P^'^'^  °^  development  withm 
the  necessary  limit  of  cost :  and 
the  necessary  raw  materials,  placed  as  by  a  Providen. 
tial  hand  to  meet  the  great 
and  growing  needs  of  a 
great  nation;  here  is  the 
central  location  in  the  midst 
of  the  largest  fertilizer  con- 
suming district  of  .America 
and  enjoying  awater  freight 
rate  to  the  great  distribu- 
ting points  of  the  interior 
from  St.  Paul  to  New  Or- 
leans  and  from  Pittsburgh 


ADVANTAGES  OF 
MILD  CLIMATE 

The  difference  between  mild 
and  severe  winters  can  be 
directly  translated  in  terms 
of  dollars  and  cents.  To  the 
laborer  it  means  less  ex- 
pense for  fuel,  and  fewer  re- 
quirements for  himself  and 
family  in  clothing.  He  can 
live  in  a  house  which  costs 

less  money  and  rents  for  less,  and  where  the  changes  of 
temperature  are  not  so  severe  there  is  frequently 
less  need  for  the  services  of  the  doctor. 

To  the  hydro-electric  operator  a  mild  climate  where 
the  streams  never  freeze  means  freedom  from  condi- 
tions shown  in  the  photograph  of  the  Keokuk  Dam 
on  page  20.  No  ice  jams  block  the  penstocks  or 
runways  to  the  turbines  with  consequent  delay  and 
damage.  Transmission  lines  are  seldom  severely 
taxed  by  heavy  coats  of  sleet  and  transportation  lines 
are  never  blocked  by  snowstorms. 


far  up  the  Missouri,  while  a  combination  of  river  and  , 
ocean  steamers  furnishes  an  all-water  route  to  every 
seaport  on  the  .Atlantic  and  an  adequate  system  of 
rail  lines  brings  this  site  into  ready  touch  with  north, 
east,  south  and  west.  Here  is  satisfactory  labor  in 
abundance,  and  a  mild  climate.  Can  another  site 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  comply 
so  fully  with  every  requirement?  We  think  not. 
and  we  base  our  championship  of  Muscle  Shoals 
on  its  exclusive  merits,  far-reaching  and  unques- 
tionable. 


Pa  1*1'  Seven 

"~Oiir~ 
Tiationaf 
fesurohousel 


What  Muscle  Shoals  and  Adjacent  Territory  Offer  to  Meet  the 
Needs  of  the  Nitrate  Plant  m  Time  of  War 


VARIED  RESOURCES  The  Tennessee  River  is  in 
OF  THE  TENNESSEE  some  respects  a  most  unusual 
I' ALLEY  stream.      It    flows    both    south 

and  north,  and  it  completely  divides  the  State  of  that 
name  into  three  distinct  parts.  It  has  its  source  in 
the  majestic  Alleghenies.  while  its  lower  reaches 
traverse  the  level  alluvial  valley  of  the  Miss- 
issippi. 

It  IS  but  natural  that  we  should  find  a  variety  of 
nature's  resources  amid  the  widely  varying  conditions 
to  be  found  in  the  valley  of  such  a  stream,  yet  the 
statement  will  be  surprising  to  many  that  the  Tennes- 


see Valley  produces  substantially  every  commercially 
important  mineral  to  be  found  in  America,  while  every 
crop  mentioned  in  the  census  is  to  be  found  somewhere 
in  the  State  of  Tennessee.  Of  noteworthy  importance 
is  the  fact  that  these  raw  resources  of  mine,  field  and 
forest  are  prepared  for  use  in  local  industrial  plants, 
and  their  products  are  available  within  a  short  dis- 
tance of  Muscle  Shoals. 

How  then  may  a  great  power  site  in  the  heart  of 
the  Tennessee  Valley  meet  the  needs  of  our  Govern- 
ment in  time  of  war? 

Those     plants     which     produce     the     defensive 


Co»,     Fields   and   Iron   Ore   Deposits   in   U     S    (9    Plate   h     II     l»2) 


To  Lat^esl  Iron  Production  in  U.  S. 


Largest  Pjrite  Prod,  in  U.  S.'Va.  Disl. 

565  Mi.   /  ^^ 

LarsZ^1anE«n<»  Productionin  U.  S.^^l 

Lynchburg.  Va.  Dist.  485  Mi.^^^^ 


Coke  Disl.ol-Tei 


Zinc  Dist.ofTenn.  215  Mi. 

''0--^i~^$\"''''K  t^)         O""^     r"Z   )  BatytAoUt.  of  Tenn.  l90Mi. 

Tann7T'ho,phite>0Mi'\V//iS>tVV^-7/,  A  D'  ■    „f  T.„„    1 70  Ml 

— ^<f^\      1.^/     Xv^o^'        I  "1  1    \Ducktown  Cbpper  U;3t.  ol   1  enn.  l/uivli. 

ZZJ    C.rtcrsvillc  Barytc  DiiL  155  Mi. 

^  >^  '    S.  C.  Manganese  DUt.  290  M 


-  :<  Bir^inghamTAia.  D:s.^.,90,Mi.V74^^^3XV  V^'' 

..Ov^t  100  Miles  to  Safely  x(     3     j^"^/^^^     135  Mi.  / 

Line.-'       /  V_y  ,VL/  / 


A;^  Gulf  of 


/    ^A  Bauxite    Dist.  of 
[^  J  Central  Georgia  U 


315  M,. 
Florida  Hard  Rock  Phosphate  Dis 
490  Mi. 


QUALIFICATIONS  RE- 
QUIRED OF  SITE 


equipment  of  a  nation  are  to  a  country  what  its 
powder  magazine  is  to  a  great  battleship — 
its  vital  part.  Without  them,  the  nation  lies  a 
helpless  prey  to  the  modern  invader  and  the 
heroism  of  a  million  men  becomes  of  no  avail 
against  the  enemy. 

We  have  seen  that  the 
essentials  of  a  suitable 
site  for  a  great  nitrate 
plant  to  answer  the  defensive  demands  of  the 
country  may  be  summed  up  as  follows: 
First. — A  safe  and  central  location. 
Second. — .\  large  supply  of  continuous 
cheap,  hydro-electric  power  sufficient  for 
an  initial  demand  of  roundly  120,000  horse- 
power. 

Third.  .\  plentiful  supply  of  raw  ma- 
terials close  at  hand  for  the  manufacture 
of  nitric  acid. 


^'■S?-?Ti2"1 


A  Feetilized  Cotton  Crop  in  Mrssissippi.    1914 


Hales  Bab   Im 


1  o         ,-4C-"l^ 


I  I  I  I  I  I  I  1  1  I 

CJ  Primary  Power  Ava.labl,. 
\%,  4^  UD  Sc-condary  Power  Available 
^'?.  CD  Primary  Power  Req'd  by  U 
Govlh.rN.trir  AcidMtg, 


Fourth.  Sufficient  power  and  raw  materials 
readily  available  for  the  manufacture  of  war 
munitions. 

Fifth.  Favorable  conditions  with  respect  to 
labor  and  climate,  and  a  local  population  of 
purely  native  Americans. 

In   considerinsr    the    first    re- 
■i  SAFE  AND 
CENTRAL  LOCATION    qu'^ement.  a  safe  and  central 

location,  a  brief  reference  to 
the  .Appendix  Map  shows  that  Muscle  Shoals  lies 
well  within  the  safety  area  fixed  by  the  War  College. 
On  an  air  line  it  is  370  miles  (or  farther  than  from 
Berlin  to  Pans)  from  the  nearest  foreign  territory 
(Ontario)  in  which  a  possible  enemy  atro-station  might 
be  established.  430  miles  from  the  nearest  point  on 
the  Atlantic  coast,  and  313  miles  from  the  nearest  point 
(upper  Mobile  Bay)  on  the  Gulf  Coast. 


To  capture  Muscle  Shoals  from  the  north  the 
nemy  must  conquer  Ohio.  Indiana  and  Tennes- 
I  see:  from  the  east  he  must  cross  the  Appalachian 
Mountains  and  the  states  of  Georgia  and  Ala- 
bama, and  from  the  south  he  must  pass  the 
morasses  of  the  Gulf  Coast  and  cross  the  state  of 
Alabama   along   its   longest   dimension. 

As  to  central  location,  it  has  been  shown  (p.  48) 
that  Muscle  Shoals  lies  within  that  circle  of  300 
miles  radius  which,  from  an  agricultural  standpoint, 
constitutes  the  very  heart  of  the  nation.  (Diag.  38, 
p.  43) 

But  from  the  military  as  well  as  from  the  agri- 
cultural viewpoint,  the  location  of  this  site  is  strik- 
ingly favorable  for  economic  distribution  of  nitric 
acid  or  other  war  material.  In  support  of  this 
statement  we  have  prepared  a  location  map  of  con- 
tinental United  States,  showing  the  government 
distributing  points  for  war  supplies  for  both  army 
and  navy,  omitting  all  camps  and  headquarters  of 
a  probable  temporary  nature,  and  including  certain 
forts  and  army  posts  not  occupied  at  present,  but 
available  in  case  of  war. 

Inspection  of  this  map  (page  34)  shows  that  by 
far  the  greater  number  are  located  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  so  that  some  43  per  cent  of  these  army 
posts,  arsenals  and  naval  stations  lie  within  a  radius 
of  750  miles  from  Muscle  Shoals. 

The  second  requirement  calls 
for  a  supply  of  continuous 
power,  to  be  available  day  and 
night,  at  all  times  of  the  year,  to  the  extent  of  at 
least   120.000  horsepower. 

Diagram  31,  page  33,  shows  the  estimate  of  the 
Government  engineers,  prepared  after  an  investiga- 
tion covering  two  years  and  costing  $1  50.000.  This 
examination  was  made  by  Asst.  Eng.  W.  S.  Winn,  under 
direction  of  Maj,  H.  Burgess,  and  the  report  of  the 
investigation  was  published  in  December,   1916. 

Reference  to  the  diagram  shows  that  the  con- 
tinuous power  which  may  be  concentrated  at  Muscle 
Shoals  IS  not  a  bare  120,000  horsepower,  the  min- 
imum,   but   a   generous    230.000   horsepower   and    the 


AN  ABUNDANCE 
OF  POWER 


A  HEALTH  OF  NATL 
RAL  RESOURCES 


ultimate  commercial  24-hour  power  which  may  be 
installed  there  approximates  half  a  million  horse- 
power. 

The  third  requirement  calls  for 
a    plentiful    supply   of    raw 
materials    close    at    hand,    for 
the  manufacture  of  nitric  acid. 

In  the  electro-chemical  method  of  taking  nitrogen 
from  the  air.  the  making  of  nitric  acid  is  but  one  step 
added  to  the  manufacture  of  fertilizer.  This  step 
requires  no  other  raw  materials   than  steam  and  at- 


mospheric oxygen  (""  ,.,),  so  we  see  that 
the  site  which  so  abundantly  meets  the 
needs  of  the  fertilizer  plant  is  capable  of 
meeting  every  requirement  in  raw  ma- 
terials, of  the  nitric  acid  plant  as  well. 

When  we  consider  the  fourth  require- 
ment, namely,  the  necessary  power  and 
raw  materials  in  usable  form,  for  the 
manufacture  of  munitions  of  war.  it  has 
already  been  shown  that  Muscle  Shoals 
has  a  tremendous  reserve  of  power  avail- 
able in  this  location,  with  possibilities  of 
power  development  equal  to  the  present 
development  at  Niagara  Falls. 

Volumes  might  be  written  about  the 
materials  available,  but  space  permits  us 
only  a  brief  mention  of  those  requisites 
that  are  close  at  hand   to  Muscle  Shoals. 

Cotton,  the  world  s  chief  basis  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  modern  explosives,  is  to  be  had  in  greatest 
abundance  (see  Diag.  46.  p.  5 1  ;  Map  53.  p.  57.  and 
Photo,  p.  53).  for.  as  we  have  seen.  Muscle  Shoals  lies 
but  I  75  miles  from  the  center  of  the  greatest  cotton 
producing  region  in  the  world. 

Of  the  metals  for  war  material  there  is  an  abun- 
dant and  varied  supply.  Diagram  49.  page  52.  taken 
from  the  Appendix  Map  shows  that  the  third  greatest 
producing  district  in  America  in  iron  ores  is   but  90 


Foreign  Whjtes.  and  Native  Whites  of  Foreign  or  Mixed  PARENTA..t    ,^  Tot,l  Popve«tion  (17 


.^:£:Mia£riJ 


:;^^!»!!a;:iia»sg^wfiai^L 


914  (48   3511  Sk. 


miles  away  at  Birmingham.  Here  are  blast  furnaces, 
smelters  and  rolling  mills  (Photos,  pp.  47  and  62).  but 
more  significant  are  the  tremendous  possibilities  for 
iron  and  steel  making  which  would  be  opened  up  by 
the  large-scale  production  of  cheap  power  at  Muscle 
Shoals  (Diag.  47.  and  Map  48.  p.  51). 

Chief  among  the  improvements  in  modern  steel 
making  stands  that  industrial  giant,  the  electric  fur- 
nace. High  phosphorous  or  high  sulphur  content  in 
iron  ores  are  no  obstacles  to  successful  steel  making 
where  this  powerful  servant  of  civilization  is  em- 
ployed. I )    so    that    the    Muscle    Shoals 

country  with  its  wealth  of  iron  ore  and  its 
great  supply  of  cheap  electric  power  may  be 
made  to  become  the  greatest  center  of  iron 
and  steel   production  in  all  America. 

But  iron  and  steel,  important  as  they 
are.  supply  but  one  spoke  in  the  great  wheel 
of  production  that  has  its  hub  at  Muscle 
Shoals.    (Diag.  49,  p.  52) 

To  the  northeast.  170  miles  distant,  lie 
Ducktown  and  Copper  Hill,  the  greatest 
copper  producing  district  east  of  Arizona, 
excepting  only  the  exposed  mining  district 
of  northern  Michigan.  (Appendix  Map) 
(Photos,  pp.  18  and  60)  Here  is  to  be  had 
sulphuric  acid  in  abundance,  made  from  the 
reclaimed  fumes  of  the  smelters.  The 
zinc  deposits  of  Tennessee  are  but  21  5  miles 
from  the  site  to  the  northeastward,  while 
the  greatest  zinc  fields  in  .America,  if  not  in 


the  world,  are  to  be  found  in  the  zinc  district  of 
southwestern  Missouri.  390  miles  to  the  northwest. 
Here  an  area  of  about  100  sq.  miles  produces  50  per 
cent  of  the  zinc  yield  of  the  entire  United  States. 
Smelters  in  nearby  states,  at  sites  having  water  freight 
rates,  furnish  economical  sources  of  supply  of  this 
important  metal,  the  nearest  being  at  Mascot.  Tenn.. 
on  the  Tennessee  River.  225  miles  from  Muscle 
Shoals.      (Photos,  pp.  61  and  62) 

Closely  associated  with  zinc   large  amounts  of  lead 
are  within  easy  reach.      The  production  of  this  metal 


in  the  central  and  southeastern  Missouri  district.  320 
miles  to  the  northwest,  (ranking  second  in  lead  pro- 
duction) was  over  168.000  tons  in  1914  r   ,,). 

Aluminum  ore.  known  as  bauxite,  claims  an  im- 
portant place  in  the  making  of  modern  munitions. 
The  largest  source  of  this  ore  in  America  is  the  famous 
.'\rkansas  district.  270  miles  westward  from  Muscle 
Shoals.  This  material  now  goes,  in  large  part,  to  the 
great  aluminum  plant  at  Niagara  Falls.  The  second 
largest  producing  district,  260  miles  to  the  southeast, 
in  Georgia,  furnishes  abundant  supplies  of  ore  to  the 
important  aluminum  plant  at  Maryville,  Tenn. 
(Photo,  p.  58)  but  220  miles  from  the  Shoals. 

Important  in  the  manufacture  of  those  grades  of 
steel  used  extensively  for  munitions,  is  manganese. 
The  largest  producing  district  of  the  metal  is  the 
Lynchburg  district  of  Virginia,  483  miles  from  Muscle 
Shoals,  where  the  ore  runs  as  high  as  33  per  cent  pure 
manganese.  Deposits  which  rank  low  in  present  pro- 
duction and  hence  are  not  shown  on  the  Appendix 
Map.  are  those 
of  Cartersville. 
Georgia,  150 
miles  away,  and 
Independence 
City,  Arkansas, 
300  miles  dis- 
tant. The  lat- 
ter is  said  by 
Dr.  A.  H.  Pur- 
due. State  Geol- 
ogist of  Ten- 
nessee,  to    be 

the   most    im-         ''',,',', 'i'' '^ 
portant  reserve 

of  manganese  within  convenient 
reach  of  Muscle  Shoals  ('■'    ,i. 

For  working  steels  a  good  flux 
is  a  prime  necessity.  Muscle 
Shoals  is  surrounded  by  limestone 
(shown  in  black  lines  and  dots. 
App.  Map)  while  the  largest  production  of  fluorspar 
in  America  is  to  be  had  in  the  Kentucky  district  180 
miles  to  the  northward.  (Diag.  49.  p.  52) 

Another  important  element  in  the  making  of  ex- 
plosives is  caustic  soda,  the  basis  of  which  is  common 
salt.  This  material  is  found  in  beds  nearly  two  thous- 
and feet  in  thickness.  400  miles  to  the  south  in  Louisi- 
ana, while  at  a  distance  of  390  miles  is  the  salt  pro- 
duction of  Michigan,  the  largest  in  the  United  States. 
Sulphuric  acid,  an  important  factor  in  the  mak- 
ing of  explosives,  is  available  in  large  quantities 
at  Ducktown.  1 70  miles  away,  while  sulphur  and 
pyrite.  the  raw  materials  for  making  sulphuric  acid,  are 
available  in  great  quantity.  The  largest  deposit  of 
sulphur  in  America,  if  not  in  the  world,  is  found  in 
Louisiana  at  a  distance  of  450  miles  from  Muscle 
Shoals.     The  shipments  from  this  great  deposit  have 


reached  1.000  tons  per  day  l'^*',  ,i,  and  it  is  this  de- 
posit which  enables  the  South  to  dominate  the  world's 
sulphur  market  ('"/,, I. 

Pyrite  is  obtainable  in  great  quantity  in  Virginia 
deposits  of  first  rank,  365  miles  from  Muscle  Shoals, 
while  smaller  supplies  are  available  in  Cherokee  and 
Carroll  Counties.  Georgia,  at  a  distance  of  163  miles. 

Barytei  for  the  manufacture  of  fertilizers,  of 
paints,  rubber,  paper,  and  cloth  i  '*  ,.  I  is  also  avail- 
able in  large  amounts  in  the  Washington  County 
district  of  Missouri  at  a  distance  of  280  miles  from 
Muscle  Shoals,  this  district  producing  about  63  per 
cent  of  our  domestic  output.     (Diag.  49.  p.  52) 

In  the  construction  of  a  plant  of  such  magnitude 
as  that  required  by  the  government  Portland  cement  is 
an  important  consideration.  Dr.  Purdue  points  out 
that  the  nearest  Portland  cement  plant  is  at  Richard 
City,  on  the  Tennessee  River,  about  1 50  miles  from  the 
Shoals;  other  plants  are  found  at  Kingsport.  Tenn.. 
and  in  Alabama  and  Georgia.  Should  a  nearer  local 
lant  appear  desirable,  there  is  an 
abundance  of  limestone  and  shale 
nearby  to  supply  the  material  ("',). 
An  important 

IT.ARY  HICmV.AYS         '  '  ^  ">  '"    'his 

development 

is  the  supply  of   road  material.      Dr. 

Purdue  states: 


•To  the  lay- 

man  tt  is  a  nat- 

ural supposition 

that    first-class 

military  high- 

ways  would   be 

constructed  cen- 

tering at  a  mu- 

nitions  plant  of 

the     United 

States  wherever 

It    should  be  lo- 

Muscle  Shoals 
southward 
through  Alaba- 
ma well  toward 
the  Gulf  and 
ard  and 
eastward 
ough  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  there  is  road  material 
[sisting  of  limestone,  chert  or  gravel  on  almost  every 
e  of  the  distance  From  the  Ohio  River  northward 
ds  could  easily  be  constructed  by  the  use  of  limestone 
.t  is  accessible  in  many  places,  and  the  glacial  gravels 
widely  distributed  over  the  northern  states.  West- 
rd  across  portions  of  western  Tennessee  and    eastern 


i  the 
central  Arka 
abundance- 


of   fir; 


the  gn 


pla 


aterial. 


In  brief,  it  may  be  seen  that  the  combination  of 
such  a  variety  of  essential  resources  is  not  to  be  found 
within  so  limited  an  area  anywhere  else  in  the  land,  and 
when  it  is  considered  that  in  the  midst  of  this  abun- 
dance and  variety  is  a  power  site  second  only  to  Niag- 
ara Falls  among  the  eastern  waterpowers.  then,  and 
only  then,  can  be  comprehended  the  tremendous  possi- 
bilities that  await  the  command  of  our  President  at 
Muscle  Shoals. 


"  I 

'  ^^'"'■l^M^u«■;  1    u,  i '",  '"<V  '^"  i'  M  ' 

ii 

IIIII 

liirji 

Hi  nil 

n/ 

tttt   ^* 

1 

A( 

f 

(■■ 

1 

1    i 

,  1 

. 

i 

■ 

' 

::...i:x 

' 

■- 

T 

T'  '." 

ri  1  ,  1,    1,    , 

MROUS  COAL  JJ^SLAU^I^MIMEO 

•t  ^m 


iS    PRICE5\A\1LD  IN  OPTIONS  T^KLSC 
LANDS  IN  L\LDERDALE  COUNTS    Dl, 


If  the  Nitrate  Plant  be  not  Placed  at  Muscle  Shoals, 
Then  Where  Shall  It  Go? 


THE  PRESSING  NEED 
FOR  Nl  TRA  TE  PLANT 


IT  surely  must    go    to  some  locality,   for   to  fail   to 
build    this    national    bulwark,   provided  by  Con- 
gress for  the  protection  and  welfare  of  the  nation, 
would  be  indefensible. 

We  have  endeavored  to  make 
plain     our     country  s     critical 
need,  both  economic  and  mili- 
tary, for  a  nitrogen  plant. 

In  so  doing  we  have  presented  information  and 
argument  with  which  the  President  and  Congress 
are  familiar,  but  which  are  not  generally  known  or 
sufficiently  understood  by  the  people  whose  interests 
are  so  deeply  concerned.  One  particular  phase  of 
the  situation,  we  believe,  is  worthy  of  emphasis. 

To  many  Americans  who  feel 
that,  somehow,  the  United 
States  of  America  is  a  land 
absolutely  invincible;  who  have  concluded  that, 
since  America  has  never  seen  a  Jena  nor  a  Sedan, 
she  never  will  see  one;  to  those  who  feel  that  be- 
cause we  have  won  the  few  wars  in  which  we  have 
been  engaged,  we  are  a  nation  of  great  national  de- 
fensive strength  and  are  amply  supplied  with  means 
for  meeting  the  enemy:    in  short,  to  all  who  feel  that 


AMERICA 

4  TEMPTING  PRIZE 


the  need  for  a  great  nitrate  plant  has  been  exagger- 
ated, we  commend  a  few  moments'  examination  of 
our  country's  serious  predicament  revealed  by  the 
map  at  the  back  of  this  booklet. 

The  heavy  line  is  that  to  which  reference  has  fre- 
quently been  made  the  "safety  line  "  fixed  by  the 
War  College,  limiting  the  area  within  which  all 
Government  military  plants  must  hereafter  be  lo- 
cated. 

But  where  are  these  arsenals  and  munitions  plants 
today?  .^s  shown  on  the  map.  every  Government 
munitions  plant  worthy  of  the  name  is  to  be  found 
within  that  area  along  the  Atlantic  Coast.  225  miles 
long  and  less  than  100  miles  wide,  reaching  from  the 
Potomac  River  to  Boston  Bay. 

And  where  are  our  chief  supplies  of  the  all-im- 
portant iron  with  which  we  must  wage  our  warfare? 
The  only  iron  producing  center  of  any  importance 
in  .'Xmerica  which  is  not  on  the  frontier  is  that  at  Bir- 
mingham, close  to  Muscle  Shoals. 

Note  that  the  great  iron  and  steel  industry  cen- 
tering around  Pittsburgh,  depends  for  its  raw  material 
upon  ores  which  are  carried  along  our  frontier  line 
for  nearlv  a  thousand  miles  through  the  Great  Lakes. 


■  ,«,^iii^^5£; 


The  Shoms  at  Lock  Number  Ni~e 


from  Duluth  and  Marquette  to  Cleveland,  Erie  and   Buffalo 
on     their     way     to    the    Pittsburgh    and    Ohio    districts. 

What  is  the  situation  respecting 
copper — another  essential  material 
in  munitions  manufacture?  The 
map  shows  that  it  is  all  to  be  found 
within  exposed  territory,  excepting 
the  far  western  deposits  of  Nevada 
and  Utah — and  the  Southern  source 
of  supply  in  eastern  Tennessee. 

It  is  also  a  significant  fact  that 
the  largest  producing  district  in  the 
United  States  in  lead.  salt.  coke, 
pyrite.     manganese,     phosphate     rock  Copper  SMKixh 

and  sulphur  are  in  the  danger  zone, 
and  that,  within  this  area,  which  would  be  first  to  be 
attacked  by  a  possible  foreign  enemy,  are  to  be  found 
our  principal  potential   water  powers,  as  well  as  the 
majority  of  our  present  hydro-electric  developments. 

With  our  wealth  mounting  high  into  the  billions 
as  other  nations  are  plunged  into  staggering  debt,  our 
land  offers  a  tempting  prize  with  its  vital  military 
industries  concentrated  in  exposed  positions,  and  with 
its  raw  materials  within  easy  grasp  of  the  invader. 
Who  shall  say  how  soon  we  may  have  to  defend  our 
land  from  attack? 

Without  further  argument  we 
ask     again — where     shall    this 
great   defensive  plant   be  built 
if   not   at   Muscle    Shoals  ? 

The  map  shows  that  the  great  majority  of  our 
power  streams  possessing  the  largest  possibilities 
are  located  outside  of  the  safety  zone  fixed  by  the 
War  College.     (See  also  Map  31 .  pp.  39-40) 

This  disqualifies  practically  every  power  site  on  the 
Atlantic  Seaboard,  the  Gulf  Coast,  the  Great  Lakes, 


WHERE  SHALL  THE 
PL.4NT  BE  BUILT;- 


and  the  many  power 
streams  of  the  Pacific 
Slope. 
«T  DiK  KrnMN  V.JI,  t  UPPER  Hill.  Tenn,  The  Streams  tra- 

versing our  great  cen- 
tral valleys  offer  but  limited  waterpower.  Keokuk, 
with  its  limited  supply  of  water  and  the  prospective 
high  price  which  power  developed  there  is  to  com- 
mand, is  not  a  competitor,  and  nowhere  else  except 
on  the  Tennessee  River  is  there  a  site  of  the  requisite 
magnitude  available  in  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

Nor  can  we  go  to  the  far  west  with  such  an  en- 
terprise. By  nature  our  most  vulnerable  coast  is  the 
.Atlantic  and  it  is  here  that  our  vital  industries  are 
located.  Whether  for  peace  or  war,  we  would  defeat 
our  purpose  beyond  all  question  by  locating  our  plant 
in  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rockies. 

The  more  we  study  the  situation,  the  more  in- 
evitable becomes  the  conclusion  that  250.000  continuous 
horsepower — or  half  that  much — coupled  with  the  neces- 
sary limestone,  coke,  phosphate  rock,  cotton  and  the  ex- 
tended list  of  metals,  crude  chemicals  and  fluxes  so  essen- 
tial in  the  makjng  of  war  munitions,  arc  obtainable  in 
faoorable  combination  in  but  one  location  in  all  America 
—at  Muscle  Shoals  on  the  Tennessee  River. 

With  all  of  these 
advantages  our 
story  is  but  half 
told.  For  to  thus  apply  nature's  forces 
at  Muscle  Shoals  not  only  will  make  living 
cheaper  and  provide  a  secure  and  depend- 
able source  of  nitric  acid;  not  only 
will  fully  open  an  inland  empire  to  the 
needs  of  the  country  thru  the  development 
of  adequate  na\'tgation  on  the  Tennessee 
River:  but  will  establish  at  Muscle  Shoals 
a  center  of  electro-chemical  industry 
rivaling  Niagara  Falls  in  the  magnitude 
and  usefulness  of  its  accomplishments. 

And  so  we  see  this  great  power  site, 
not  merely  as  a  location  for  the  plant  that 
shall  produce  some  necessary  acid  for  use 
in  war.  but  we  see  it  as  the  source  of  an 
economic  inHuence  that  shall  be  felt  from 
coast  to  coast,  lightening  in  a  measure  the 
burdens  of  the  people,  bringing  the  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number,  and  mak- 
ing this  enterprise  a  living  monument 
to  that  broad  principle  of  democracy. 


THE  MUSCLE  SH0.4LS 
OF  THE  FUTURE 


m  mM:mTj:i-myF^-v^"~^^^^^^x"^^sm^m^m 


,.„.l.    L,MF..T„K 

Pl*mt 

.  Amf.hic 

,s  Zinc  Co  .  Mascot,  Tr-.v. 

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'1  *£P«^?f?SBBSS5^^ 

1       .-              !--     Jl!,i        , 

■  ^■■■iSIBfll^BHLJEHH 

Oxidizing  Room 
.Plant     Iimmophos  Co     Ntw"loB>.C]i 


'■z'is&rr 


"""^ — iSf'-'C*: 


cnlilled  "The  Gas 
Commerce,  rele.se 
Doc.  83.  59th  Co 
see  River." 
of    the    Coramissic 


Lockages  at  V 

Total 
ug  and  60  bar. 


1  of   the  Census:    Dept 


I  14.   1912. 


■d   Yearbook. 


,  22  locka. 


1  30  n 


I  18  hr. 


affic) 


10  round  trips  at  23  hrs-28  i. 

■  canal,  of  course,  was  not  designed  for  this  t 

i'a't?'f'urnish'ed''bv''Dept    of  Commerce.  Wash..  D.  C. 
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1914. 


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Elec 

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ese 

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tus.  an 

11    S 

Dept    of  Con 

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Pro, 

csive  Farme 

issue 

of 

uly  4th.   1914 

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ary  AHa 

1st  Session,  on 

Bill  t 

n   In 

Efficien 

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Hear 

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of  Mil 


■  Esta 


Se 

.  the  Ja 

n    an 

HVer 

1916 

he 

arings 

befor 

e  Cor 

nmittee 

an  Milita 

Altai 
Jan.. 

s:     a 
1916 

so   Co 

1   Rec 

ord    fc 

r   hv 

beginn 

1  e 

tter    fro 

m    Se 

cy,  ol 

Agric 

lit 

re.    tr 

ansmi 

Report 

Situ 

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II 

S     to 

Pre, 

ol  S 

with 

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ted    |> 

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1916 

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R    Do 

Z81 

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•Exa 

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both   accomp. 

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IstSessi 

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Wash..  D.  C. 

.Spe 

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Oscar  Unc 

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Mm 

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eol    Su 

,.  Bulletin 

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Sta 

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ekeland. 

of  Yon 

kers.  N.  Y..  in 

Hea 

before 

the   Comn 

ittee   on 

Militn 

ry    Affairs.    U. 

64 1 

1  Cong 

.    1st  Sess, 

1916.  on 

Bills 

or   the   Reorga 

the 

nd  for  the 

ol  a  f. 

U.  S,   W 

„r   Dep 

..   War  Cc 

liege     Di 

vision 

An 

au.l    R< 

port    of   th 

e    Secv     of    Wa 

to    the    Presic 

Un 

ted  Sta 

covering  Anhydrous  Ammonia  production  in  U. 
1899.  1904.  i909  Irom  Census  1910.  Manufac- 
iral  Chemical  Industry,  page  546.  table  44:  1906 
Resources  of  U,  S.  1910.  Vol,  1 1 :  1910.  1911  from 
tion  for  1911.  Vol.  II:     1912.   I  91 3  Irom  same  pub- 


,  408, 


the  Chattanooga  Tir 


U.  S.  G    S.  Bulletin  530. 
U.  S.  G,  S.  Bulletin  285. 

Statistical  Abstract  ol  U.  S..  Bureau  of  Con 
Hearings  before  Committee  on  Military  Altai 
.  on  Agriculture  Appi 


itied    "Steel    Making 


irce  and  Labor.  1901 
H.  R  .  64th  Congress 
Bill.  1917, 
the  Electric  Furnace."  by  Jas.  H 
ing  ol  the  International  Engineer 
Sept.  20-25.  1915,    (AdvanceCopy 


[  Co 


.  1915. 


als  Office.  Issued  Jan,  51.   1916. 


Vol,  II.  p.  408.  to  which  has  been  added  average  annual  inert 
prior  to  1914.  to  bring  U.  S,  G   S,  figure  to  June  30.  1916. 
Cote  Otrn  Ammonia  Jo,  Fer(,/,«r-  From  Bulletin  Bureau  of  Comme 

Census  of  Mfgrs,  Fertiliier  Industry,  released  July  6.  1916. 
TotoMmmonio— From  Metall,  and  Chem,  Eng..  July  1.  1916.  p.  39. 
Coitc  Omn  Ammonia  lor  Chemical   lndu,l  ~  ■  ■ 


of  first  thr. 


,  fron 


MS.^& 


fSSt^mfrff/m  3 


Special  References  Regarding  Nitrogen  Situation  in  the  United  States,  Supporting 
Table  II,  Page  4  1 ,  and  Diagram  25,  Page  29 


(1)  Federal    Trade    Commission — Report    on    Fer- 

tilizer Industry.  1916.  p.  58. 

(2)  Assumed  same  as  war  year  1915.  based  on  rela- 

tive tons  seed  crushed  1914  and  1915.  .\mer. 
Fertilizer  Handbook.  1916.  p.  H-6. 

(3)  Bureau  of  Commerce.  Census  of  Mfgrs..  Fertilize) 

Industry,  released  July  6th.  1916.  based  on 
assumed  value  of  $2.90  per  unit  of  ammonia. 
Allow  300.000  tons  high-grade  organic  am- 
moniate  imported,  see  Ref.  9  Allow  40c  per 
unit  P.Oi  and  an  average  of  5'  ,  P  O;  in  total 
tonnage. 

(4)  Based   on   increase  of   90.000   tons  organic   am- 

moniates  per  annum,  1909  to  1914.  Ref.  3. 

(5)  Amer.  Fertilizer  Handbook,  p.  42. 

(6)  Metallurgical   and   Chemical   Engineering.   July 

1st.   1916. 

(7)  Amer.  Fertilizer  Handbook.  1916.  p.  31    -Imports 

for  calendar  year. 

(8)  Ref.  7.  p.  43. 

(9)  Ref.  7.  p.  25.  32  and  Ref.  3  deducting  domestic 

production  from  consumption  (includes  cyan- 
amid). 

(10)  Ref.  1,  p.  58. 

(11)  Consumption    equal    production.    Ref.    2.      Di- 

vided between  feed  and  fertilizers  m  same 
ratio  as  in  1914      Ref.   I.  p.  58. 

(12)  Ref.   I.  p.  73. 

(1  3)  Basis  increased  demands  last  3  years  as  indicated 
by  numerous  statements  in  fertilizer  trade 
journals,  and  in  broker's  trade  letters. 

(14)  Consumption,  given  in  Ref.  3.  allowing  40c  per 
unit  for  P  Oi  and  our  average  of  5'  j  .  assum- 
ing ammonia  worth  $2.90  per  unit. 


(15) 
(16) 

(17) 
(18) 
(19) 

(20) 

(21) 
(22) 


Ref.  3  and  Ref.  I ,  p.  29.  sulphate  of  ammonia 
and  nitrate  of  soda  only. 

Balance  to  make  total  fertilizer  consumption 
equal  88.6'  ,  of  1914  consumption  on  basis  of 
North  continuing  1909  1915  rate  of  increase, 
and  South  consuming  same  quantity  as  in  191  5. 

U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  Manufacture  of  Coke.  1914. 
p.  408. 

Based  on  annual  increase  since  1909  -Ref.  17. 
and  U.  S.  Census.   1910. 

Difference  between  production  and  consump- 
tion for  fertilizers  and  refrigeration.  Refs.  5. 
3  and  17. 

Based  on  consumption  of  21.500  tons.  1915  (see 
Refs.  5.  3  and  17  and  Dept.  of  Commerce. 
Census  of  Gas  Industry  released  June  12. 
1916).  plus  annual  increase  of  1.300  tons  per 
annum  (the  average  rate   1909-1914). 

Ref.  7.  p.  31.  Imports  less  consumption  in  agri- 
culture    Ref.  I,  p.  29. 

Fiscal  years  ending  June  30th  (Oil.  Paint  and 
Drug  Reporter.  Aug.  26th.  1916,  p.  85). 

Imports  Nitrate  of  Soda 

S/liirJ    Tons  Sl,a,l   T„n,  .V.V.ot.vi 


[■in 
1915 
1916 

631,735 

646,377 

1.2(10,335 

98.500 
100.300 
187.200 

Deduci 
J.valent 

tfrom  the  1916.: 
to  77'  ,   ot  Ihe  ag 

"cu;;:, 

of  nitrate  ol 
ral  consumpi 

soda. 
;ion  of 

187.200  tons, 
n,  irate  ot  so 

.n   1914       See  American  Ferlll.zer  Handbook,  1916,  11.  41.) 

(23)  Estimate  of  U.  S.  War  Department  of  the  rate 

of  Germany  s  requirements  per  annum  during 
the  first  nine  months  of  the  war.  viz..  250.- 
000  tons  concentrated  nitric  acid. 

(24)  Ref.   1.  p.  58. 


Site  OF  Dam  Numblr  Ont  (Fob  Naih.^mon  Onlx  )  Fkom  Fi  oK^.^,.  r  B 


1 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

CHAPEL  HILL 


From  the  Library  of 
Hugh  Talmage  Lefler 


A  gift  of  his  sons 

Hugh  Talmage  Lefler,  Jr. 

and 

Charles  Deems  Lefler 


;.  the  l9MpT«igcU(,nof  the- 


SALT 

o 


NOTES    ON    THE    MINERAL    RESOURCES    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES 

IRON  PHOSPHATE  ROCK  COPPER  BAUXITE  PYRITE 


^^^  4,500,000  Annual        OKjS^       4,200,000  Annual        pv^s^   1,100,000  Ar 

P  oducbon  S^^V        Shott  Tons         P  odu  tion  IH^Hf  Short TonsO  e         Production  \SHiiiMV        ''°"g  ^°"^         Production  ' 


•    115,000  Annual        (  A    100,000  Annual        (  \ 

Short  Tons         Production  V  /  Short  Tons         Production  V  / 


LEAD 


100,000  Annual 

Short  Tons         Production  f 


100,000  Annual 

Short  Tons        Producrioi 


100,000 
Short  Toi 


tffiiHrSs,'""'"'^' 


Art  trary  arc  es 
Aiovf  oomparalivt  ^^ 

pioducdon.  but     ^^        ^B     for  individual 


^^^  ^T-f 


FLUORSPAR 

uai  r\ 

luction  I  J 


^igEiliii     ll^SS^iii     S^lSSiS™        -^-"^™"-"""  P^duction^^      ShorfTons 

leX't^vVb^'  -   '''''''"'"'''T'^'''^^'Vi\TjT^'d^.l°^^^^^^  TTiuSJi^MiuTinWhi^PiM        ,y  i,  th.  E,.n  R.I.I..    In  1914,  ih.        Jdi  "U"  iT'i^tSnMlff/W^^  LYNCHBURG  OISff'CTOFTlRCIMA  J^  Lo1jO<!n  ANo'FllEJiCH  BRO^  Dl^RICTCOF^ltNfj^E. 


